


Going with a Smile

by StarvingLunatic



Series: Walking the Line saga [5]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Childhood Friends, Children, Crime Fighting, Drama, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, First Love, Novella, Romance, Sparring, Wordcount: 30.000-50.000, Wordcount: Over 30.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1903815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short sequel to One in a Billion. Take a trip back into the Walking the Line universe to see how Kim and Shego's children are faring as Todd moves out and gets closer to Mayah Director. Also watch as Jayden goes to talk to Bokuden Stoppable and meets his aunt, Hana. There's trouble to be had by all, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Expression One: Touch

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these Disney characters; they’re owned by Disney, obviously. I do, however, own Jayden, Todd, Mayah, Raziya, and Bokuden, who are the main characters in this story. If that’s not something you want to read about, I suggest hitting that back button.
> 
> A/N: this is a little step back into the Walking the Line saga and this is set after the end of One in a Billion. Since those stories were years ago, I don’t know if you might want to go back and refresh your memories about them. This story will not be as long as any of those tales, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Thanks to my beta WindChaser0001

Going with a Smile

Expression One: Touch

“I still don’t see why you had to move, weird brother,” Jayden Possible-Gooding griped as she carried in a box through the open door of her brother’s new apartment. The seventeen-year-old did her best not to pout, but she failed miserably and knew that. She liked having her big brother live at home.

His new home was a decent size from what she knew about apartments, which was really only from television since everyone in their family lived in houses. The living room was big enough for him to host maybe a dozen guests. He had a small dining room area that he would probably never use. The kitchen could probably hold four people in without seeming cramped. There was only one bedroom and she had not seen it yet because it felt like they had been hauling his things up forever and eternity.

“Because I don’t want to end up a forty-year-oldman still living at home with his mothers doing his laundry,” Todd “Smiley” Possible-Gooding replied as he followed behind his sister with an even bigger box in his thick, muscular arms.

“Do you even know how to do laundry?” Mayah Director inquired in a somewhat teasing tone from inside the apartment. She had been leading the way in bringing up Todd’s things. She had placed her box by so many others that they had carried up earlier.

Jayden was surprised that her brother had not put up much of a fuss about Mayah helping. She honestly did not totally understand Mayah’s feelings toward her brother, but she had no choice in noticingthat it made her brother uncomfortable most of the time. She was not sure why and more often than not, she felt like she was the only person that did not get it. Todd grunting drew her out of thoughts and she saw that he had put down his box. She did the same.

“That’s the last one,” Todd sighed. “Thanks so much for the help.”

“It was my pleasure,” Mayah smiled. Todd turned away, trying to ignore the expression.

Jayden shrugged. “No problem. It wasn’t hard. You just have a lot of junk. Why didn’t you just leave some of this shit at home?”

Todd chuckled. “I feel like you don’t get this whole moving out thing.”

“I get it. It’s just fucking stupid! I mean, you had to sneak out while Mommy is at work and Mom is out saving the fucking world,” Jayden pointed out.

Todd balked. “That is not why I waited! I just didn’t want them offering to help move. They’ve already done so much for me. I didn’t want to bother them with this.”

Olive eyes rolled and Jayden snorted. “And you didn’t want to make Mom cry again.”

He looked absolutely terror-stricken by the accusation. “I didn’t make her cry!”

“Well, she was fucking crying!”

“Children, please,” Mayah interjected with a smile. “Smiley, you probably did make Aunt Kim cry when you decided to move out, but, Jade, cut the guy a break. He has to move out and become his own person eventually, just like you and I will do one day.”

Jayden crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She would have called bullshit on her friend, but it was unnecessary. They all knew why she was being a brat about things. They all also knew that she probably had no plans to move out of her mothers’ house ever.

“I don’t want our family to be broken up again,” Jayden grumbled, glancing away. 

Todd sighed, throwing his arm around her narrow shoulders. “Jade, this isn’t like before. I’m on my own. I make my own decisions. My birth parents won’t be trying to keep us apart. I’ll be at the house all of the time, especially for meals.” He grinned. He did not know how to cook.

She gave him a half-hearted smile. “I guess.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “You know it’s true. I’m not leaving and the family isn’t being broken up. I’m just growing up a little and I know you don’t think you’ll ever do it, but someday, I’m pretty sure you will. You’ll get it one day. Now, to pay you two back since no one else had time for me, how about I treat you both to that horrible restaurant your lot enjoys.”

“Hey!” Both girls objected to his terminology, not his offer.

Chuckling, he shrugged. “Not my fault your taste in food sucks.”

“Says the guy that eats every fucking thing that he sees!” Jayden declared, throwing her hands up in a dramatic fashion.

“Hey, stuff is good. But, anyway, so what about my offer? Dinner on me?” he asked.

“Sounds good,” Mayah readily agreed. Somehow, she managed to not sound as eager as she felt. After all, Todd had just invited her to dinner. Sure, he had also invited his little sister, but that was neither here nor there.

Jayden scratched her head and shrugged. “I’ll have to take a rain check.”

A crimson eyebrow rose. “A rain check? We don’t have to do it today.”

Jayden shook her head and a sorrowful frown settled onto her face. “Nah, I’ll be busy for a couple of weeks probably. You two enjoy yourselves. I should probably get going anyway. I’ll see you guys later.” She was gone before her brother and friend even had the chance to process what was going on.

“What the hell does she have to do?” Todd wondered out loud. It had to be something extra-special and utterly important for Jayden to not hang out with him.

“Who knows, but it’ll probably be on the news later on,” Mayah commented. She was not even joking. But, she could not bring herself to worry about Jayden, not when she really wanted to thank the little psycho. Thanks to Jayden, she would get to have dinner with Todd! Just the two of them! Mayah felt like she might faint from the thought.

Todd might also faint from the thought. He had made the offer, thinking that Jayden would be there, so he would not have to pay much attention to Mayah. He suddenly wished the rest of their merry band of psychos had been free to help, so they would also reap the reward. Maybe he could drag them along, anyway, he considered. Anything that might make dinner less weird. 

-8-8-8-8-

“So, you’re really going through with this?” Raziya inquired from her workbench. 

“Don’t tell me I shouldn’t. This was your fucking idea in the first place,” Jayden replied, leaning against the wall. They were in a small office that Felix set aside for Raziya in his lab. Raziya was interning there for the summer. She did not get paid and there were no college credits to be had, but she was gaining experience and everyone at her father’s lab loved her. She was fairly certainly that she would be able to get a job with little problem once she was done with school.

“A brilliant idea, might I add,” Raziya commented with a smile.

“Then shut the fuck up,” Jayden replied.

Raziya snickered. “You seem a little hostile. Are you upset you won’t be spending the beginning of your summer getting lost in a jungle with your mom?”

Jayden frowned. “No. My mom said she’ll wait for me or we could meet up when I’m done.”

The blue-eyed young woman nodded. “Then are you nervous?”

Jayden sighed and turned away. “I wouldn’t say nervous…” She was not exactly sure what she was.

“You just want your best friend back,” Raziya filled in the simplest statement to make.

“I do. I don’t want us to start school and … I want to be able to share a tuna sandwich with the guy again! Is that so fucking crazy?” Jayden threw her hands up.

“I still think you’re worrying too much. Bo is laidback. He said it was cool, so it’s probably cool.”

Olive eyes searched the ceiling. “You didn’t see his face when I told him. He couldn’t even fucking look me in the face when he said it was cool. He was looking at the sky or a bird or some other shit. I didn’t know what to do. Hell, I still don’t know what to fucking do when I see him.” Sighing, her shoulders slumped. “What if I fuck up again?”

Raziya glanced up at the younger teen. She got up and embraced Jayden. Jayden leaned into her, but did not return the embrace.

“You didn’t fuck up. You tried and you really only tried because you love him, but not in the way he wants. You can’t help your feelings. Hell, Bo, should’ve known. You’re ridiculously immature!” Raziya remarked.

Jayden knew the teasing was supposed to ease her nerves, but that was not the case. She finally understood why her friends considered her “immature” and also why they never believed that she was lesbian. Unlike most teenagers, Jayden never experienced attraction of any kind. She had thought that she had those sort of feelings for Bokuden, which was why she went to the prom with him and had agreed to date him.

Bokuden had confessed to liking her and Jayden had decided to examine her feelings for him, hoping that some kind of emotions that she had never felt before would bubble to the surface. These emotions had not emerged after many months and she had to concede that her feelings for him were not romantic in the slightest. She had known that she held affections for him that differed from how she felt about Raziya and Mayah, which was one of the factors that led to her agreeing to go with him. Of course, after “dating” Bokuden and, taking a moment to think after she felt like she was doing something since she did not feel any different toward him, she realized that her affections for all of them were different.

“Why do I feel like I fucked up, then?” Jayden wondered aloud with a sigh.

Raziya patted her shoulder. “Because you want your friend back and you might feel like you were stringing him along. But, we all know you’re not great with dealing with your emotions. Look, you can’t let him run away to Japan and just pretend everything is fine when he comes back. That’s when we’ve all fucked up.”

“Please, like we wouldn’t call bullshit.”

“Okay, we would totally call bullshit, but that would be an awkward two minutes.”

Jayden chuckled and Raziya smiled as she patted Jayden on the back. They broke apart and Raziya’s gaze held faith and confidence. Jayden knew that she was doing this. She just hoped it worked out the way Raziya assured her it would. She was not sure if she could go on feeling quite this rotten inside for the rest of her life. 

-8-8-8-8-

Mayah was beside herself in attempting to prepare for dinner with Todd, rummaging through her closet like a woman possessed. She was tempted to ask her mom for help, but she knew that her mother would flip to find out that she was going out alone with Todd. Of course, she was very aware that this was not really “going out.” She was sure Todd only extended the thanks because he thought that Jayden would be there to act as a buffer. She surprised that he had not attempted to weasel his way out of it.

“He is not that type of man. It’s one of the reasons I love him,” she reminded herself. So, she needed to get her act together and pick an outfit to enjoy this once in a lifetime chance.

Part of her was tempted to call Raziya because the younger girl had blossomed into exactly what her mother wanted: a fashionista. While Raziya was not into fashion beyond her own clothes, she could throw together daring, eye-catching outfits when she wanted. Mayah could do the same … when was not feeling crippling anxiety.

“I can’t call Razi. She’ll make fun of me and I’ll be damned if I’m going to supply her with reasons to make fun of me. Besides, she’ll tell Jade this is happening today and, even though Jade knows about the dinner, I don’t how she’ll react to it actually happening.”

She doubted that Jayden would like it. Jayden remained almost territorial about Todd, but in a weird way. She was fine with sharing him as a big brother with the people that she grew up with, if only for a little while. Other than that, Jayden even screened Todd’s friends and had always expressed herself on what she thought on the people that he hung out with, typically giving negative opinions. She never approved of his girlfriends. Of course, that could have been learned behavior from Shego, who never seemed to like anyone around Todd either.

“I’m getting ahead of myself,” Mayah decided. This was just dinner. It could be a stepping-stone to more, but she needed to make it through this dinner. “Which means I need to make it to dinner.”

With that in mind, Mayah picked out a new dress from her closet. She wanted to look casual, but also wanted to impress with an outfit that he had never seen. She wanted him to notice that she was a woman now, not the little girl that did not understand her feelings. She was all too aware of what she felt and believed that she would always feel that way. She needed him to accept that if nothing else. She hoped for more, but one step at a time.

“So, don’t screw this up,” she ordered herself, staring into her vanity mirror and putting on some fairly light makeup.

Taking a deep breath, Mayah hustled out of her bedroom and grabbed her father’s car keys. She had already cleared it with him to use his ride without giving away exactly where she was going with it. Once in the car, she had to take another deep breath to steel herself. She was not sure how she managed to drive to the restaurant, did not remember giving the keys to a valet, and definitely did not recall entering the restaurant, yet there she was. She stood before the host, but before she could say anything, Todd just seemed to appear next to her.

“Hey,” he greeted her with the expression that made sense of his nickname. His smile seemed genuine and light, which made her stomach twist a bit. She was used to him looking at like he wanted to flee – and he usually did – but now he was being civil toward her, as if he decided to make their night something that she would remember.

“Hey, Smiley. Where did you come from?” she inquired as he stepped to her elbow. She blinked a few times, just to make sure she was not seeing things.

“I was at the bar, watching the door and nursing the most pathetic drink a man can order. But, that’s all over now that you’re here, so let’s go sit down.”

Mayah could only nod as Todd led her over to the host. They were taken to a small table, where Todd pulled out Mayah’s seat. She did not read anything into that. Todd was a gentleman, when he remembered to be anyway. She smiled at him as he sat across from her.

“This isn’t our usual hangout,” Mayah pointed out, just to have something to say. No way in Hell would she waste her time alone with him being awestruck like some silly twit.

“Nah, I wanted to broaden your horizons. I had hoped Jade would still be around to do this, too, but that kid wasn’t kidding when she said she wasn’t going to be around. She’d love this place,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Where did she go?”

“Japan.”

Mayah nodded. “She’s trying to make up with Bo. I don’t see why, since he was the idiot that thought she was normal.”

He arched an eyebrow. “So, you blame him?”

“He pushed her. Jade’s a little kid and he tried to bring grown up feelings into this. He should’ve known better.”

Todd made a face, as if he did not agree. He probably wanted to stand up for both, but decided against it. It was not like he could say anything to change her mind. She was glad that he did not try to argue because she did not want to spend this one dinner talking about her friends. This was her time.

“Well, I just hope they settle things. I would hate to see a really special friendship ruined over a misunderstanding,” Todd commented.

For a moment, Mayah thought Todd might be speaking about their friendship, if it could be called that, along with Bokuden and Jayden. But, shequickly dismissed that as both Todd and Jayden just said what was on their minds, like she did. They did not speak in code or double meanings.

“I doubt this will be the end of them. They love each other too much to let this be it,” she pointed out.

“I guess you’re right about that. So, you excited to be going into your second year at Go University?”

Thankful that he changed the subject, she smiled. “I’d be more excited if Dad let me live in a dorm and Mom trusted I wasn’t going to shoot anyone.”

He chuckled. “They’re just nervous. You’re their first one. She-she and Kimmie were ready to offer me the crown jewels to move into the house before I managed to tell them that was the plan from the very beginning.”

“Well, I’m ready to offer my parents the crown jewels to let me live in the dorm. I want to see what it’s like to be on my own.” Her friends did not understand this desire to be totally independent, as they were all quite content to live at home. She thought that Todd might understand it more since he had just moved out. He might be able to provide her with some advice.

“You’ll get there. You don’t want to do it too fast. And do you really want to be on your own while the rest of your crew is still at home?”

She scoffed and rolled her mismatched eyes. “I can live by myself. I need to get ready. I’m an adult now, damn it.”

“You’ll always be your parents’ little girl. You’re not less of an adult by living at home while you’re at school. Hell, I didn’t move out until just now,” he pointed out with a light laugh.

“Yeah, but you were making up for lost time. I’ve lived at home all my life. I’m ready to strike out on my own.”

He shrugged. “If that’s how you feel, maybe you should sit down and talk with your parents. I’m sure you all could come up with something.”

She nodded. “How did you convince your Kimmie and She-she to let you go?”

Scratching his head, Todd glanced at the ceiling. “I dunno really. I guess just told them I can’t be married and living in the house.”

She snickered. “They didn’t argue with that?” 

“They did. I think Kimmie had to handcuff She-she to the banister for me to move just some of my stuff out. They cried that day. Kimmie, a lot.” He glanced away, uncomfortable with the memory.

Mayah was aware of that as Jayden talked of the strangeness of that day quite a bit. “They love you a lot.”

“And your parents love you a lot, which is why they don’t want you to leave.”

“Touché.”

He smiled. “So, what are you going to major in? Criminal justice?”

“But of course. I’ll start on those courses this year, actually. I managed to get most of my required courses out of the way.”

“How did you fare with those? I didn’t like them much. Jade doesn’t seem to care. She breezed through her required courses and actually brought books on the subjects that she didn’t even need.”

“She’s a little sponge, but always goes back to her science. I can’t do it. I like what I like and that’s what I want to learn about.”

“You don’t get bored hanging out with a bunch of mad scientists?” he asked curiously.

“How can I get bored with them? They’re freaking nuts. Besides, they do cool shit and they’re into everything I am. I’m just not into everything they’re into. It’s cool.”

He nodded. “So, you plan on working for your mom?”

Mayah’s brow furrowed as she realized something. “I never thought about it.”

“You should. Make sure you look into all the classes Go University offers. I thought for the longest time that I’d go into herpetology like my Kimmie until I saw all of the other options. You never know, criminal justice could become an afterthought for you.”

“I doubt it. I want to shoot stuff and I want to catch bad guys. Honestly, I really only need an associates degree to do that. If I go to work for my mother, then, yes, I’ll need the four-year degree.”

He chuckled. “I love how simplistic your dreams are. Your mom doesn’t even shoot stuff.”

“I know. I don’t want to be my mom any more than you want to be yours.”

He gave her a short nod. “I guess I never thought of it that way. I always assumed you were a total clone of your mom.”

She scoffed. “You’re kidding, right? I love my mom and she does awesome work, but, fuck, her job is boring. It’s cool when she gets to go all boss-bitch on people, but it’s mostly paperwork and meetings. She loves it, but I don’t have the fucking patience for it and I’m not sure I ever will.”

“Oh, please, like you don’t want to be boss bitch.”

She could not help laughing and she held her head up high. “I’m already boss bitch.”

He laughed and was about to say something, but his phone went off. He checked it and held up his hand. “I need to take this.”

She gave him a short nod and he got up. While he went to take his call, she decided to look at the menu and reflect on how well things were going. It was not awkward, Todd was easily conversing with her, and they thankfully did not linger in discussing her friends, Jayden especially.

“Thinking of that little idiot, I’ll have to call her to see what’s up with her and Bo,” she muttered. She hoped that they mended things because their little crew had been a little awkward for a couple of weeks before Bokuden left for Japan. None of them were fans of trouble happening inside of their little circle and, with that thought, she decided that Jayden and Bokuden were very likely to work things out between them.

She put her friends out of her head after that and decided to focus on dinner. She figured out what she was going to order by the time Todd returned, but from the frown on his face, she was not sure if they were going to be staying. She had only seen him appear so visibly upset a few times in life, but she could remember each time vividly.

“Girlfriend?” she guessed.

His forehead wrinkled as his frown deepened into a hard scowl. The tension always looked unnatural on him. She wished that she could kiss it away or at least massage him. Of course, she was fairly certain those things would lead to him running away from her, like he used to do when she was little.

“She broke up with me over the phone,” he growled. It was not the first time that hadhappened.

She was tempted to throw him the pity his expression was obviously begging for, but she was not that type of person. He would probably think something was wrong with her if she did give him the sympathy he actually sought. Actually, he probably would not know what to do with sympathy if he did get it.

“You know what your problem is,” she stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

“You’re about to tell me,” he replied, continuing to appear the very definition of miserable.

“Doy. Your problem is that you date women that view you as arm candy and, hell, I think to an extent, you view them in the same way. You date girls that you feel you look like a good couple with, with the exception of Shi. You’re just a nice guy that holds a place to them. You’re very sweet and especially kind to women.”

“You’re saying it almost like they’re bad things,” he noted.

“They’re things that make people take advantage of you. You’re a good person and your girlfriends see that, which is why a couple of them have come back for a second go with you. It’s unfortunate that you take them back, as it only let’s them know that they can manipulate you and play you again. Of course, there’s also the thing that many of them don’t want to deal with your mothers or Jade, who typically don’t want to deal with your girlfriends either,” she stated and he was about to open his mouth, but she put her hand up to stop him because what came next was what he truly needed to hear. “Just because they don’t stick around doesn’t mean you’re a throw-away person.”

He gasped and his lime eyes went wide. She doubted he thought she picked up on that, let alone had the balls to mention it. She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. Surprisingly, he grabbed her hand and held onto it.

“Wh-why would you say that?” he asked in a whisper. 

“Look, your birth parents were assholes. I think we can both agree to that. But, you got your Kimmie and your She-she out of the deal. They love you more than anything and you have a little sister that loves you to death. She adores and looks up to you. You don’t need to feel like a horrible person about these stupid girls dropping you. You’re a great person and you need to embrace that. You lucked out and made yourself wonderful, so you shouldn’t be sad when these girls leave you. You still have wonderful people in your life and they don’t know what they’re letting go. It’s their lose and not yours, never yours.”

His mouth opened, but he did not say something for several seconds. “When did you get so insightful?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I like to think I’ve always been this way. I am trying to be a law enforcement agent, after all. I have to be observant and I have to be able to read people.”

Todd ran his hand through his hair. “I guess I never noticed.”

She gave him a smile. “I think there’s a lot you haven’t noticed about me,” she chuckled. She did not want him to feel upset over not knowing her as well as she knew him.

He did not say anything, but he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. He did not get the chance because a waiter came over to take their orders. The dinner went on. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden found climbing to Mount Yamanouchi alone was quite boring. But, then again, she guessed that the anxiety gnawing at her gut might have had something to do with it. She also had not worked out what she wanted to say to Bokuden, but she hoped that the words would come to her when she stood before him. Not knowing what she was going to say added to her nervousness, though.

As she crossed the gates of the school, she immediately noticed that no one was around. She knew that meant there was sparring going on, so she went to the main building and her jaw practically hit the floor.

“Holy shit,” she muttered as she took in the greatest sight of all time.

She watched as a tall kunoichi (female ninja) roundhouse kicked five other ninja that were on the raised ring. She was pretty sure that she was watching poetry in motion as her leg snapped back in place and the kunoichi stood strong. Another five ninjas went at her and she dropped them with sharp pops of her fists. Seeing her muscles coiled like striking snakes made Jayden feel a little lightheaded, which she did not understand as she had seen more than her fair share of muscles in her life. Still, she feared that she might have to sit down before she fell down as she watched the warrior woman in her fighting stance, body hard and glistening, like a gemstone in the sun.

“Jade, what are you doing here?” Bokuden asked, coming up behind her. She actually jumped.

“Bo!” she yelped.

He arched an eyebrow while looking down at her with somewhat concerned chocolate eyes. “Jade, shouldn’t you be crawling through a swamp with your Mom?”

“Uh … yeah, but I need to talk to you,” she replied, glancing at him, but needing to watch the woman in the ring, especially as she moved.

“Why? I told you we’re cool,” he insisted. “So, you didn’t need to come here. We’re cool.” His eyes were on the ring now as well. She assumed he turned his gaze there when she glanced at him for merely a second.

“You can’t even fucking look at me while you say that bullshit,” she stated. Of course, she could barely look at him. Her eyes refused to stray from the ring for less than a second.

“Look who’s talking. Do you want to get into the ring with my aunt or something?” he inquired, motioning to the sparring match as more ninja went down.

She blinked. “Your aunt?” She almost gulped, but managed to hold that in.

“Yeah, my aunt Hana.”

For some reason, that information made her gut clench. Briefly, all she could do was stand there and feel her insides tremble and grind against themselves. She managed to mentally shake it off. She turned her attention completely to Bokuden.

“Can we go outside and talk?” she requested. The only way that she was going to be able to seriously speak with him was to be able to focus solely on him.

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“Gee, don’t sound so fucking excited.”

Bokuden did not say anything to that and followed Jayden outside. The pair walked silently for a few seconds before Jayden stopped. The blond did the same. They both stared at their feet.

“So?” he prompted her.

Jayden took a deep breath and looked him in eye. “Look, Bo, I really want us to be okay. I didn’t mean to ruin our friendship. I didn’t mean to lead you on. Tell what I need to do to make this better and I will. I promise. I promise.” Her voice cracked on the second promise.

He chuckled a bit and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Jade, you didn’t lead me on and I hate that I think it’s cute that you feel guilty about this.” He actually ruffled her long, ebony hair.

She blinked. “Wait, what?” His words threw her off so much that she did not even think to move his hand from her hair.

“I was serious when I told you I was all right. I understand that you don’t feel the same way and I think I pressured you. You’re not ready for a relationship or anything and I should’ve realized that.”

Her brow furrowed. “That doesn’t sound good.” It finally occurred to her to move away from his hand, petting her. He just smiled at the move.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. You’re cool and adorable. You didn’t ruin anything.” His eyes were locked on hers as he spoke.

“You sure?” her voice quivered a bit.

“Positive.”

“Mayah and Razi threaten you?” she guessed. He had not been this convincing when they spoke before.

“They spoke to me and made sense. It was surprising considering who we are,” he joked.

“So, we’re cool? Like, shit won’t be awkward at school and shit?”

“We’re cool. I just needed time to think about it and I needed people that knew what to say, which Mayah and Razi did. We’re cool, so let’s go back in there and see my aunt kick ass.”

“Wait, seriously? I mean, you’re not mad? It was so long.”

“I know it was so long, but I understand what you were trying to do. I know you were trying to figure out if you had feelings for me and feelings for you take a while to sort out. You don’t have those feelings. I accepted that when you told me and, like I said, I just needed time. I’ve had time. We’re cool, so come on. We don’t want to miss Hana beat everybody.”

She could not turn down that offer a second time, especially when he offered his hand. She chuckled and playfully knocked his hand away. He smiled, happy with the familiarity. They returned back to the sparring hall just in time to see Hana drop half a dozen more ninjas. Jayden felt those tremors come back to her stomach and her heart rate seemed to increase to an impossible speed as the shorthaired woman stood in her fighting stance. The ninja seemed to glow as her body shimmered with sweat.

“Jade, you wanna spar?” Bokuden asked.

“With you?”

“No, I sparred earlier. You can take on some fresh bodies.”

“Uh…” Jayden doubted that she would be able to focus enough to fight. And she found out that she was absolutely correct in that assumption after Bokuden shoved her into the ring.

Her eyes just tried to spot Hana in the crowd rather than notice the two guys in front of her. She saw the female ninja, who was watching the match closely. This made her heart beat even faster than before and she was pretty sure she was about to faint. Next thing she saw was the ceiling as she found herself on her back and, for a moment, she feared that she had passed out. She found out that it was worse as she heard herself being declared the loser. _Well, that couldn’t have looked very cool_. The sound of Bokuden laughing confirmed her thought.

“You know, you used to be a lot better at this,” he teased her.

Jayden barely heard him as she sat up just in time to see Hana leaving. She was pretty sure her heart dropped into her chest. Hana probably thought that she was a weak ass. Of course, she had no idea why that bothered her so much, but she had to do something for Hana to know that she was actually quite awesome. She just was not sure what yet. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Mayah tests her boundaries with Todd while Jayden gets into trouble as she tries to look cool.


	2. Expression Two: Taste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these Disney characters; they’re owned by Disney, obviously. I do, however, own Jayden, Todd, Mayah, Raziya, and Bokuden.
> 
> A/N: italic words in quotation marks mean the speaker is speaking it in Japanese. For example, “Like this.”

Expression Two: Taste

“Okay, so I looked totally fucked up in front of Hana, but I can make up for that.” Of course, Jayden had no idea how she was going to make up for getting dropped within three seconds in the ninja ring or why she wanted to look good in front of Hana.

“You okay?” Bokuden inquired as Jayden sat on the edge of the ring.

“I think so.” Nothing beyond her pride hurt at any rate.

“What happened? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go down that quickly.”

“I dunno what happened.” She could not focus for some reason and had not been thinking about the fighters in front of her.

Chuckling, he bumped her with his shoulder. “You sucked, that’s what happened.”

She glared at him. “Fuck you.”

“Your heart wasn’t even in that. Come on, let’s go get some food and you can try this again tomorrow.”

Jayden nodded because she could really use a sandwich … and her dignity back. She figured the former would happen before the latter, so she followed Bokuden to the cafeteria. They grabbed their food and Jayden found her day of being an ass was not over yet. Hana was also getting food and Bokuden decided to introduce the pair, smiling when he said both their names. When Hana extended her hand to shake, Jayden did the same, forgetting that she had food in her arms. So, of course, she dropped everything and, as it clattered to the floor, it splashed over all of them.

“Shit! Fuck, sorry!” Jayden said, feeling like her face was on fire as a blush burned all the way to the tips of her ears. She ignored the fact that there were dozens of people looking at them and just wanted the floor to swallow her whole because she looked like a moron in front of Hana yet again.

Hana stared down at her with a smirk, possibly condescending or amused. Jayden really could not tell. She honestly did not care. She wished that she could go five seconds without embarrassing herself in front of the kunoichi.

“Whoa, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Hana inquired with feigned shock.

Jayden opened her mouth, expecting a witty and possibly profane comeback. She was sorely disappointed when nothing came out and she was basically gaping at Hana. _Goddamn it, brain! What the fuck?_ She felt like her mind had blown fuse.

“Well, Bo, thanks for introducing me to your little friend,” Hana commented and walked away. She exited the cafeteria area and Jayden wondered if it was because she had somewhat ruined the warrior’s clothing.

Jayden could not help the whimper that escaped her throat. “Little friend?”

“Jade, seriously, what’s wrong with you? Are you tired from the trip or do you still think we’re not cool?” Bokuden inquired, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Jayden shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Maybe I got sick from something I had on the way here. My stomach has been feeling a little weird.”

His tanning brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you say something?” And then his face fell. “Look who I’m talking to. I really must be an idiot.” She imagined their friends told him that. “Come on, we’ll get you into a room and you can get some sleep.”

For once in her life, Jayden was not difficult and just followed Bokuden. He escorted her to an empty room in the school and helped her lay out a futon. She smiled at him.

“Thanks for the help,” she said, taking his hand in hers.

“You don’t have to thank me. We’re still friends and I care about you, Jade. I really do wish things had worked out differently for us, but you can’t change the way you feel,” he told her.

“I totally care about you, too. I care so fucking much.” She squeezed his hand, hoping somehow that conveyed the message better than her words.

He smiled at her. “I know, which is why your crazy butt showed up in Japan just to make sure we’re okay rather than going to dive in mud and chase frogs with your mom and.”

“I do wish I was in that mud with those frogs, but you mean way more to me than that. I want us to be cool.”

“We are cool, Jade. I promise you. We’re cool. So, don’t beat yourself up anymore. If anything, worrying about it might make your stomach worse. You should just get some sleep. I’ll bring you something to eat later. Okay?”

Jayden nodded, even though she felt dread settle into her stomach. It was like they were not cool, or so she thought. She was not sure what the feeling was, but it only got worse when she was alone. She changed out of her now soiled clothing and fell onto the futon, taking in the familiar scent of Yamanouchi and trying not to think about how she might have truly screwed things up with one of her best friends. _Bokuden said it’s cool, so it should be fucking cool. Why do I feel like this?_ Having no answers, she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

When she woke up, the sun was down and she thought that she might be experiencing jet lag. It would make more sense than some meal troubling her stomach, at least to her anyway. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out something to eat, a candy bar, which she knew would not hold her. She needed real food.

“And to not drop it like an ass this time,” she told herself. “And what the fuck was that all about, anyway? I stood there like a moron and couldn’t even say a fucking word to her. What the fuck?”

She did not have any answers for her utterly idiotic behavior. She considered food might at least jump-start her brain. She made her way to the cafeteria, which was teeming with people, so she figured it was safe to assume it was still early. Well, as early as a night in summer could be.

“ _Hey, Jade, here to put more junk on the floor? Maybe ruin the Iron Monkey’s pants again?_ ” a teen ninja teased.

“ _Hey, balls to you!_ ” Jayden barked while silently wondering who or what the “Iron Monkey” was, beyond an awesome movie anyway. “ _I can kick your ass right fucking now._ _So_ _don’t fucking test me_.”

He snickered. “ _We’ll see. I’ll bust your ass in the ring tomorrow faster than those novices that planted you_.”

She glared and growled at him. “ _Bitch, I will fucking destroy you_.”

“ _I highly doubt that considering how you and the floor seem to be best friends_.”

She almost gave him the finger, but recalled that she was carrying food. Instead, she ignored him and found a place to sit. She barely got any food in her stomach before Hana actually sat down across from her.

“So, Jade,” Hana said and shocked Jayden to the point that she actually dropped her chopsticks. Hana winced slightly. “Mastered the language, but not the utensils? You’re quite different in person than from what Bokuden described whenever he came over the house.”

“I’m … um…” Jayden could not think of a single clever thing to say. _Shit! Really, what the fuck, brain?_

“I couldn’t help but hear Rai-kun challenge you and you quite loudly accept. You do realize he is one of the best teenage warriors here. He could hurt you. You should be careful.”

Jayden’s mouth dropped open as she realized Hana thought that she was weak. Before she could loudly object – well, as soon as she remembered how to talk – Hana rose and left. Green eyes stared at the now empty space in total disbelief.

“What. The. Fuck?” she muttered.

“Hey, I heard you yelling at people, so I figured you must be okay,” Bokuden commented as he sat down next to her. “I was just about to bring some food to your room. It’s good you’re okay now.”

Okay? No, she definitely would not call it okay. In fact, she was far from okay. She was actually so fucked up that she was at a loss for words. The coolest kunoichi that she had ever seen – not counting her mommy or Aunt Yori – thought that she, of all people, was a weakling! _What. The. Actual. Fuck?_  

-8-8-8-8-

Mayah was not sure what possessed her to show up at Todd’s new place unannounced. For all she knew, he could be entertaining his friends or, worse, some girl. Still, taking a deep breath, she took a chance and knocked.

“One second!” he called and the door opened several seconds later. Todd stood before her in a sleeveless t-shirt and sky blue basketball shorts. His brow wrinkled a bit as he stared down at her. “Hey, Mayah, what’s up?”

“Hey, I know this might seem weird, but I was wondering if I could hang out with you. I’m so bored. Jade and Bo aren’t around and Razi’s happily slaving away in her dad’s lab for the summer,” she explained, hoping that would make things less weird.

He stared down at her, silent for a long moment. She had to fight the urge not to squirm or fidget. A small smile tugged at his lips and she sighed in relief. He stepped out of the way.

“I’ve just been trying to get my stuff together. If you want to help, you can, but if you want to watch TV or something, you can, too. It’s hooked up to my gaming system and the computer because I haven’t gotten cable yet,” he told her.

Looking around, she did not expect him to have much of anything. All of his boxes were still out, but at least they were open. She shook her head, knowing he got distracted from unpacking. She figured that he got his sometime-scatterbrain behavior from Kim, like his little sister did. They were easily distracted and occasionally had the attention spans of gnats. Smiling, she wondered how Shego dealt with all three of them without going stark raving mad.

“I’ll help you. I should be able to keep you from wandering too far from task,” she commented.

“I didn’t wander!” he objected with a grin.

“So, you didn’t start opening a box and pull out those bones on the coffee table and start messing with those?” she inquired with a smirk, glancing at the aforementioned body parts scattered about on his coffee table.

“Uh…” He narrowed his gaze and playfully shook his fist at her. “Damn your observantness.”

“I hope you know that’s not a word.”

“I hope you know you’re a smartass,” he countered.

She smiled. “Well aware.” She was pleased to see that Todd was definitely more comfortable with her since their dinner, like he was seeing her differently now. She guessed that he was starting to figure that she was normal. _Or he really just needs help unpacking and all the people that he’d normally call are out of the country_.

She decided to get to work before she thought herself into a depression. She opened a box and began pulling out books, which was not surprising. She would bet that more than half of his boxes had books in them, as chronic reading was another habit he had picked up from Kim.  As she began pulling the books out, his attention strayed from his box to the pile of tomes.

“Hey, focus, Smiles. I’m not going to play your maid and empty these boxes while you get lost in a fucking book,” she gently snapped, causing him to look at her.

“Huh? I wasn’t…” he did not even bother to finish the lie as she pinned him with a glare. Changing tactics, he smiled brightly. “Maybe I should just move them out of the way.”

She literally felt her confidence grow and realized that she needed to act like herself. She needed to stop being the little creepy girl in love with him and be who she was. He already saw that she was an adult at dinner, but now he needed to see what kind of adult.

“Maybe you need to stay on task or you’ll be banned from touching anything beyond clothes,” she told him.

“You can’t ban me from touching my own stuff!”

“I just did. It’s for the best to get you unpacked sometime this century. Look at all of these boxes you still have.” She motioned with her hand to the cluttered living and dining room. “I imagine your bedroom is worse.”

“Don’t worry about my bedroom. Focus on these boxes,” he replied, so obviously, she was correct.

Rolling her mismatched eyes, Mayah returned to work. She glanced at Todd every few seconds to make sure he remained on task. It was a good thing that she kept such a close eye on him because after he moved onto another box, he discovered some of his other books.

“Stop reading,” she ordered as soon as he cracked the first book open.

Groaning, he did as commanded. After a couple of hours, they had all of the boxes empty and crushed them, so that they could go out with the trash. They crashed on the sofa. She looked around at all of the items and chuckled.

“This looks like my room now,” she remarked.

“Sans the random guns and bullets,” he added.

“I had to put those away. Mom is convinced Romah is going to shoot himself.”

He laughed. “Knowing him, he’d blow his kneecap out or something.”

“Exactly. So, I put it all away now and as long as he’s not snooping in my room and suddenly into safe cracking, he should be fine.”

He nodded. “You up for putting all those books away or should we call it a day, order some pizza, and watch a slasher movie?”

She blinked. “Uh … pizza sounds nice if you don’t mind.” _Damn it, don’t sound so unsure! He finally seems comfortable with me, so don’t blow it!_

Chuckling, he gave her a small smile, as if he heard her little internal pep talk. She figured that he somehow knew that she was freaking out a little and his smile calmed her down. She managed a smile in return and he made a call for pizza. Once the call was done, they glanced at each other, but did not say anything. Before the silence could be awkward, Todd’s cell phone rang. He glanced at it, but did not pick up.

“You can answer the phone. Don’t stand on ceremony for me,” she told him.

He shook his head. “My ex-girlfriend. I think she’s trying to come back, but, as you, Jade, and She-she would say, fuck her. I’m not arm candy or a place holder.”

She grinned, pleased that he had listened to her. “You’re not and don’t let anyone treat you like that. Of course, you also need to stop treating girls as arm candy.”

He had to chuckle at that and then he moved to put on a movie. Mayah could hardly believe that her day consisted of helping Todd with boxes, bossing him around, and now lounging on his couch. Sure, they had over six inches of space between them, but still. Add the pizza to that and it turned out to be her perfect day. She decided to be so daring again sometime in the immediate future, just to see if it might pay off as well. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden stood in the ring and stretched. Bokuden stood behind her, watching her, but not saying anything. She scanned the crowd when she was done, eyes searching for something, though she was not sure what. She thought that she might be looking for her opponent, but she learned otherwise when she heard a voice behind her that made her spirit soar and her heart skip a beat.

“You sure you don’t want to talk her out of this?” Hana asked her nephew. Jayden’s heart dropped immediately at the question.

Bokuden scoffed loudly. “You don’t talk Jade out of stuff. You just watch as she blows stuff up or you join in.”

“Hey, I don’t blow stuff up! Razi does that,” Jayden objected, pleased to find that she could finally talk around Hana. Maybe it was because she was not trying to talk directly to the ninja or maybe it was because she was insulted that her best friend would imply she was the only one that blew things up.

“With your help,” Bokuden teased.

“Your help more so!”

“My point is, Jade is gonna do what she wants and she wants to knock Rai out,” Bokuden stated.

“Damn right I do. Nobody makes fun of me,” Jayden growled.

Bokuden arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Shut it,” she ordered, pointing at him. She did not need him embarrassing her in front of Hana any more than she already had done herself.

Hana arched an eyebrow, obviously wondering what that was about. Jayden tried to smile her way out of it, but she could feel the smile was nervous. Hana’s gaze locked on her and she swallowed hard. She felt sweat beginning to gather all over her body, even though she was not doing anything. _What’s wrong with me?_

She did not have an answer for what was wrong with her and she did not have any time to figure out what it was. Rai flipped into the ring, flashy and showy. He then made a show of tearing his shirt off and showing off his muscles. He grinned and she guessed his cronies cheered. She glanced at Bokuden, who shrugged.

“Is this a concert or something?” she muttered to herself. “ _Hey, am I kicking your ass or are you about to give a speech I don’t know about?_ ”

Rai smirked at her. “ _You and your friend, the floor, are about to meet again. In fact, I think we’ll start calling you the Floor Monkey_.”

Green eyes rolled as Jayden crouched into her fighting stance. “ _Is that supposed to be clever? I can just imagine the damn mouse on a wheel in your head. I don’t think it’s running like it should. Maybe you should bait it with cheese_.”

“ _Maybe you should shut up and fight_.”

“ _Oh, believe me, I don’t need to shut up to fight. I’m going to kick your ass, so I’m glad you’re eager for it_.”

Rai’s smirk remained in place as he dropped into his fighting stance. She would enjoy knocking that smug look off if his face. Better still, she would be able to show Hana that she was not weak, even though she did not understand why she cared about what Hana thought.

She did not have time to figure that out as Rai attacked. She barely managed to get out of the way of his assault, slipping to the left just in time to avoid being punched. Rai pressed, putting her on the defensive. While making sure not to get hit by his large, heavy hands, Jayden did her best to study him to get an idea on how to counter.

He turned out to be faster than she assumed and she dipped when she should have dodged. His fist slammed into her body, knocking her almost across the ring. Coughing, she maintained her balance and protected her body as he charged her.

“Fuck this,” she growled, slipping past his fists and tagging him with swift hits in his exposed side.

He gasped as her fists worked and then she took his legs out from under him. A thud echoed through the room as he landed on his back. He rolled out of the way before she could continue her attack and was quickly on his feet. The fight was on and lasted almost thirty minutes.

“Way to go, Jade!” Bokuden cheered as she hopped out of the ring, the victor.

She smiled at the friendly and sincere praise. It was like they were all right and that thought made her feel great, but that did not last long. Her heart sank and her stomach twisted as she noticed Hana was gone.

“Where’d Hana go?” she asked. Surely Hana saw her victory and knew that she was not weak now, right?

Bokuden shrugged. “She left as soon as things started.”

“What? Why?” She felt a sort of desperation grip her and she did not know why.

He shrugged again. “She’s got other things to tend to,” he answered nonchalantly, not realizing how big that was to Jayden.

Of course, she could not expect him to get it since she did not. All she knew was that she was crushed and upset about Hana not seeing her win and leaving. Hana would not know what a great warrior she was and understand that she was someone worth knowing.

“I figured a fighter like her would like to see a good match,” Jayden muttered.

“Hana’s not really into the crowds and stuff here. I mean, she fights when Master Sensei tells her to or when my parents request it, but other than that she keeps to herself. It doesn’t help that some of these guys are asses and call her the Iron Monkey to be jerks,” Bokuden replied.

“The Iron Monkey is a name they tease her with?”

“Well, they don’t say it to her face for obvious reasons, but it’s just something some of them say to make fun of her. It’s seriously like being in high school around here sometimes.” His lip curled in disgust and he shook his head.

Jayden nodded because she was aware of that from several visits. She and her friends were teased for being foreigners. Bokuden was sometimes teased by being called a “half-breed.” Of course, as they got older and stronger, the teasing was more behind their backs than anything else. The thought of them taunting Hana pissed her off just as much as Hana missing her great fight did. She decided to fight through the frustration, sparring for the rest of the day.

As night fell, Jayden still found herself upset over Hana missing her fight. She remained outside, shadow boxing and going through katas. She could feel that she was being watched, but she assumed it was Bokuden, checking up on her. She was quite wrong.

“Your style is strange,” Hana noted as she stood behind Jayden. 

“It’s a mix of my mothers’,” Jayden replied, happy that she could talk to respond.

“The famous Kim Possible and Shego, daughter of Isabel Go.”

“You heard of my mothers?” _Doy! Mommy and Mom are super famous! Why do I keep making an ass out of myself?_

Hana chuckled a bit and moved where Jayden could see her. “One of your mothers is best friends with my brother and I spend more time around this place than most students who don’t live here. So, of course,I know about people related to Isabel Go, including you. I’m still waiting for you to blow something up.”

“The week is young,” she managed to joke. Her voice was smaller than usual and she let loose an awkward laugh, but she was pleased that she managed to not sound like a moron.

Hana laughed again. “I thought you were some spoiled princess from your fight yesterday and my brother and nephews just exaggerated about you, but it turns out you were able to defeat Rai and other competent ninjas. I guess I should’ve stuck around to watch.”

“Maybe you’d have liked what you saw,” Jayden commented with an amused smile. She did not mean it the way it sounded, but as soon as it left her mouth, she blushed. 

A smirk settled on Hana’s face. “Maybe.”

Jayden swallowed hard, not expecting that answer. “Uh … we could spar.” She breathed a subtle sigh of relief that the offer came out as a statement and not a question.

“Are you sure you want to do that? I’ll warn you right now, I’m not your average ninja.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“I think it’s fair to warn you, I’m kinda magical. The only person to really keep up with me now is my brother. It’s one of the reasons some of the ninjas around here hate me.”

Jayden rolled her eyes. “I’m kinda my mothers’ kid. And I’m pretty sure even they can’t keep up with me anymore.” Of course, she meant that outside of fighting. In fighting, she was pretty sure they could still kick her ass. But, she wanted to spar with Hana and prove that she was not weak.

Hana shrugged and, before Jayden realized it, they were facing off. Also, before,she was eating dirt before she knew it. She coughed and Hana leaned down, offering her a hand.

“Sorry. I tried to warn you,” Hana said in a warm voice that seemed to wash over Jayden and drown her in heat.

Jayden pushed herself up quickly, hitting Hana right on the cheek as she did so. The younger woman chuckled as the ninja fell back. Wide onyx eyes focused on her as Jayden smiled.

“As I did you,” the teenager remarked.

Hana laughed and they went at each other again. Jayden could feel that Hana was holding back, but she assumed it had to do with her being magical, whatever that meant. Sometimes, she felt more of a sting in blows and she just tried to give as good as she got. She was beginning to believe Hana had superhuman endurance, speed, and strength, which was probably the magic. After an hour, she was struggling to stay on her feet, but Hana was hunched over as well with sweat dripping off of her face.

“I’m really hungry,” Jayden admitted. She was also worn out, which was beyond her. She could not recall the last time that she felt so exhausted, especially from sparring.

Hana chuckled. “Me, too. Let’s go eat. We can pick this up tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.”

They managed to make it to get food. Jayden finally picked up on how some of the ninjas treated Hana. She noticed the stares and the whispers. Some people even snickered when they saw Hana. For her part, Hana ignored them.

“I usually don’t eat in here, but you do,” Hana stated.

“Yeah, I usually sit with Bo. Fuck everybody that’s talking about you. They’re just jealous of you,” Jayden replied, earning a smile from the older warrior.

Hana smiled back and Jayden felt like the sun shined just for her. They found an empty space in the corner. Bokuden appeared by Jayden as soon as they sat down. They greeted him and then turned their attention to each other. He looked between them, but did not say anything.

“This afternoon was great. You know, you’re a lot stronger than you look,” Hana commented with a small smile. Her dark eyes seemed to sparkle.

“I told you, I’m my mothers’ child. Not trying to get disowned,” Jayden grinned.

“I doubt you would be,” Hana smiled more and Jayden felt her stomach flutter. She could have sworn Hana’s eyes shined as she looked at her. Jayden had to swallow hard and she wondered how she could be able to eat anything if her throat stayed so tight and dry.

Bokuden looked between them again. “I guess that’s why she plays in mud,” he blurted out and green eyes went wide.

“Mud?” Hana echoed. “I’ve heard that your mom hunts for exotic animals.”

Jayden took a moment to glare at Bokuden, who had the decency to blush in embarrassment, before responding to Hana. “My mom is a herpetologist. She specializes in snakes. We go hunting in jungles all the time. I chase down reptiles and amphibians, but I love snakes too.”  

“In fact, she was supposed to spend her summer doing that and running through muck, but instead, she came here to see me,” Bokuden stated with his chin held high. Jayden could not help shooting him a “what the hell” look. He pretended to not notice.

“That’s a good friend you have,” Hana told her nephew. 

“I know. She’s one of my best,” he stated and it oddly sounded like a warning. The look in his eye did not help.

Hana seemed to consider his words and then smiled at him. “Then you should enjoy her company. I’ll catch you crazy kids later.” She stood up, leaving with her meal, giving them a short wave on her way out.

“Hana, wait!” Jayden called, but the ninja was gone. She frowned. “Damn it to fucking Hell, Bo! Why would you tell her I play in mud and run through muck?”

“What?” He shrugged. “You do. You don’t usually care that people know.”

She opened her mouth, wanting to counter, but he was right. She never really cared what people thought in general. She did what she did and that made her happy and if other people had a problem with it, then it was just that – their problem. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ She did not understand or know how to handle caring about Hana’s opinion.

“How about after we eat, we go spar?” he proposed.

She nodded absently, not even totally aware of what he was suggesting. She was more concerned about why the hell she was acting so weird and why her stomach would not stop rolling. Fighting with Bokuden did not take her mind off these questions and many more popped up as the night went on.

“You know my _aunt’s_ twenty-one, right?” he asked, seemingly out of the blue. It was strange that he seemed to stress his relation to her, but Jayden shook it off.

Jayden shrugged. “Nope, didn’t know that.”

“I’m just saying, that’s one of the many reasons you won’t beat her in sparring. She’s older than you,” he pointed out.

“So? I don’t give a shit. I’ll still fight her and win,” Jayden declared.

He chuckled. “No, you won’t. She’s unbeatable. I’ve tried a bunch of times, so you’re really just wasting your time. She’s got some kind of unbeatable, mystical monkey power, but it’s different from my dad’s.”

Jayden shrugged again. “So? I’ll still fight her and win.”

She wondered if he was trying to discourage her from sparring with Hana. Well, it would not work. She would fight her and win, even with all of those distracting questions buzzing around her head.

She did not get any answers when she met up with Hana the next day and they sparred again. She just knew that she liked spending time with Hana and wanted the ninja to think well of her. She definitely did not want Hana to think that she was some kid that played in mud.

“I help my mom in her lab with her snakes,” she awkwardly volunteered at the first moment of silence between her and Hana.

“That’s cool. So, you’re going to be a – what’s it called?”

“A herpetologist and, yes, I am. I already kick ass at it. I’m majoring in biology and chemistry, but I’m going to specialize in reptiles and amphibians. I’ll study their toxins and venoms and hopefully come up with something to help mankind or something. What about you?” Jayden was about to ask what Hana was going to study, but she realized that Hana might actually be done with school considering her age. In fact Hana might actually view her as nothing more than Bokuden’s “little friend.” The very thought hurt her stomach.

“I just finished my final year. Physics major. I’m going to go back for my masters. I’m sure you’ll be going for a PhD.”

“Can’t be anything less in my house,” Jayden declared with her head held high. Well, except for her Mommy, but Shego was different.

“I’m sure you’re brilliant.” Hana sounded sincere and not at all bothered by the fact that Jayden was younger than she was.

Mentally, Jayden breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, five years might seem like a lot to Hana and she was just hiding it. _Why the hell is this bothering me so fucking much? What the hell do I care about our ages? Is it because Bo said something about her being older than me?_

“Did you go into physics because of Yori?” Jayden asked with the hopes of distracting herself from the questions. She was also happy that she could actually carry out a conversation with Hana now.

“Yes. She helped make it a thing for me, and my dad had already made me love math, so it wasn’t a big jump. She’s helping me get a job, too, to help me pay for school.”

“That’s cool.” Now, she knew they could talk science, so she knew another way to show Hana that she was cool. _Maybe she’ll do something with me and Bokuden. We could make a rocket or something_. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Hey, stranger,” Raziya greeted Mayah as she sat down at the café table across from the older woman.

Mayah offered her an apologetic smile. “You’re one to talk. You’ve been locked in your lab so much I’m shocked you don’t have Igor with you.”

Raziya shrugged. “I’m doing important scientific research, which is way more than I can say for you.”

“In other words, you’ve been counting on me to drag your ass out of the lab.”

Blue eyes rolled. “I know better than to count on you for shit.”

Mayah only laughed, even though she believed that she should feel guilty about neglecting Raziya. She would have been able to get away with it if only Jayden were around. Of course, she might not have been able to get away with other things if Jayden were around.

“What have you been up to?” Raziya inquired.

Mayah could not help the impish smile that settled on her face. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Raziya’s face fell, clearly not expecting the retort. “Oh, fucking hell, I’m scared to find out. You gonna tell or just play coy, which I need to point out, doesn’t look well on you.”

Mayah scoffed. “Bitch.”

“Yes, you are. Now, tell me.”

Mayah sighed dramatically, as if it pained her to speak. “I need friends that don’t suck the fucking fun out of everything. I’ve been hanging out with Smiley.”

Raziya’s eyes went comically wide and she slapped her knee in disbelief. “STFU! You have not! He thinks you’re creepy at most and annoying at best!”

Despite the insult, Mayah laughed. “We turned a corner when we went out to dinner last month.”

A tan forehead wrinkled as Raziya’s mouth dropped open. “And when the hell were you going to tell me you went out to dinner with him?”

Mayah held up a hand. “Calm your tits. He invited me and Jade for helping him more into his apartment, but Jade had to leave for Japan and he didn’t withdraw the offer. So, we went to dinner and had a really long fall. It was a good time.”

“And?”

“Oh, well, and then we just started hanging out. Sometimes we watch movies at his place or go for walks or crap like that.”

Raziya’s jaw was on the floor. “What the actual fuck? He just hangs out with you now?”

All she could do was shrug. “Yeah. I’ve kinda stopped stalking him, so I guess I’m less creepy and it allows him to see me as a person. He’s been really nice to me. Hell, this might’ve started out with him just being nice to me, but it seems like it’s more than that now. We’re actually going to play mini-golf tomorrow, like he asked me if I wanted to go. You want to come?” 

“And be the creepy third wheel on your weird May-December date?” Raziya scoffed.

Mayah took offense to that and wasted no time making that known by punching Raziya in the arm. “The hell, man?”

Raziya hissed in a pain. “Ow! The hell, indeed! You just punched me!”

“Don’t call it a May-December date!”

“So … it’s not a date?” Raziya teased with a smirk.

Huffing, she gave her friend a shove. “Shut up! And, no, I don’t think it’s a date. His friends are coming.”

The scientist craned an eyebrow at that. “You’re meeting his friends?”

“It’s not like that! We’re friends and his friends are coming and … it’s just not a date, okay? It’s not a date. Don’t try to mess with my head right now. I’m finally not creepy to him and this is not a date.”

Raziya did not seem to buy that, but did not say anything. It was like she did not want to burst Mayah’s bubble, which the older female could and did appreciate. She smiled at Raziya as thanks and decided to turn the tables.

“How are things with my brother? Aztek talks about you all the time,” Mayah told her.

Raziya grunted and the sound alone let her friend know that this answer was not going to be good. “Does he? What does he say, how ugly I am or how I waste my time on stupid things?”

“No, nothing like that. Why would you—” Mayah groaned and palmed her face briefly. “He’s still acting like an ass to you even after his prom?” Her brother had accompanied Raziya to their prom and she had returned the favor. In between that time, it seemed like they were getting along better, but then again, other times they seemed worse than ever.

“He is an ass.”

“No, just woefully immature. He really likes you, but I guess the stupid dirt bomb doesn’t know how to show it yet.” She would have thought that her brother had finally gathered the courage to let Raziya know how he really felt, but it would seem that even when they were alone, he fell right into his old habits. _He might as well pull her damn hair and say she’s got the cooties while he’s at it_.

Raziya waved the whole matter away with an elegance that would leave royalty envious. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to subject myself to his immaturity. I’ve got enough to deal with in life. I’d rather worry about my internship and upcoming classes than the next stupid thing that comes out of your brother’s mouth.”

Mayah nodded and they had a normal lunch. Raziya told her about the projects that she was working on. They discussed the classes that they signed up for and they tried to figure out what they would do when their other half of their quartet finally got back to town.

Later that day, Mayah met up with Todd and a couple of his friends along with their girlfriends. He smiled at her when she showed up and she swore that her heart stopped beating for more time than anyone would want. As soon as she was by his side, he introduced his two friends and their girlfriends.

“Guys, this is my friend, Mayah. Now, time to show these nerds how to play golf!” Todd declared with an exaggerated laugh, rubbing his hands together like an evil genius.

Mayah could not even comment because she felt like she had missed something. It did not help matters when he paid for her. She could hardly pay attention to the activity, wondering what in the world she was doing there. _Is this a date? His friends brought girlfriends and he brought me. What the hell? I don’t understand_.

She did not figure it out and she dared not ask. She just did her best to go along with things from that moment on. She made a conscious effort to remain normal, knowing that if she started to act weird, Todd would pull away. She could not and would not lose all of her progress. _Is that fear?_ If it was, then she knew fear. But, she managed to maintain her composure, through mini-golf and also through the dinner that followed.

“We gotta do this again sometime,” Todd stated, speaking to his friends, but looking at Mayah.

A semi-nervous laugh escaped her. “Hey, I’m game if you are.” _Along as I don’t throw up before this is over_ _and maybe then I figure out what the hell is going on_.

Todd smiled down at her and his friends agreed that they would do it again. As normal as it was, Mayah was still anxious about doing it again. But, she was also eager and looked forward to it. _I think this feeling is more likely to kill me than being in love with this guy for my entire life. I have got to stop acting crazy, on the outside and emotionally_. Of course, that was easier said than done, especially when he invited her out again with him and his friends and their girlfriends, leaving her again to wonder what was going on.

 _He’s trying to make me crazy. That’s it. He’s got me lost in my own head, not knowing what the hell is going on, not knowing if stuff is just hanging out or if it’s a date. He’s not being nice and he doesn’t think I’m cool. This is some kind of weird punishment from the Devil himself to make me nuts!_ Despite the fact that she was certain this was all happening to drive her out of her mind, she continued to go along with it. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden had worked up a routine sparring with Hana at night. During the day, Hana was usually busy with other things, which was fine because Jayden had somewhat figured out Bokuden did not like having his aunt around them. He tended to be rude to Hana or say off the wall things about Jayden when Hana was around. Jayden, of course, could not figure out why he was doing those things. It bugged her, but she did not say anything about it.

“So, what type of physics have you studied?” Jayden asked, ducking a punch.

“Astro,” Hana replied.

Green eyes went wide. “We have to create a black hole, now!”

Hana laughed. “Your enthusiasm for science and destruction is so adorable.”   

Jayden felt her heart skip a beat at being called “adorable” by Hana. That was definitely the last reaction she would expect to have from someone calling her that. Gasping, she missed a movement and felt Hana’s foot press against her neck. The most she could do was grab the limb and yank Hana down with her. She landed on her back and Hana landed on top of her.

A decidedly cute yelp escaped Hana and Jayden felt like her body was on fire as she realized Hana’s weight was pressed down on her. Her throat went dry as her gaze immediately went to Hana’s lips without her realizing it. She swallowed to ease her throat and assumed the whole wide world could hear her. Before she realized what she was doing, she inclined her head and pressed her mouth to Hana’s tempting, lush lips.

Her mind went completely blank until she felt Hana kiss back. Then, she was pretty sure that her entire body exploded and her mind overloaded with information. She could only think how fantastic it felt and how she was probably going to have to live the rest of her life as a blood stain on the wall. Needing to breath, Jayden pulled away and gave Hana a shocked, wide-eyed stare.

“Uh … sorry! I have no idea why I did that!” Jayden apologized. Truly, she had no idea why she did do that, but she would like to do it again.

Hana smiled. “You are just too adorable.” She caressed the top of Jayden’s head and then leaned down, giving Jayden just what she desired. She blessed Jayden with the sweetest of kisses. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Mayah tries to figure out her status in Todd’s life while Jayden has her world deconstructed, reconstructed, and then blown apart.


	3. Expression Three: Hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these Disney characters; they’re owned by Disney, obviously. I do, however, own Jayden, Todd, Mayah, Raziya, and Bokuden.

Expression Three: Hearing

Mayah found herself at Todd’s house once more. She had been there plenty of times within the last month. At first, it had been nothing short of awesome. But, for the past few days, not so much, but it did not have anything to do with him. He continued to treat her well, like she was a friend … or something like a friend. Unwanted, insecure thoughts had invaded her mind and refused to leave, whirling especially quickly when she was around Todd. _What am I to him? Why is he suddenly so cool with me?_

“Damn it, Razi, this is all your fault!” Mayah huffed, hitting the empty couch cushion next to her. Thankfully, Todd was in the kitchen so he did not see her acting like a crazy person.

They were watching a movie and having pizza. This was something that was becoming a norm for them. Every few days, they would go out and do something together or hang out with his friends. He did not seem bothered by her anymore. It was almost as if he accepted her as part of his life and enjoyed having her around. It did not make any sense to her now that she thought about it. _Why the hell is he working up routines with me? I know he’s not trying to play with me. He’s not like that. But, what the hell is he playing at?_

She hated to think he was “playing” at anything. Her mother had always expressed surprise that her aunt Shego could raise such guileless, somewhat simple children. Todd was pretty straightforward and honest, like his little sister, but with better impulse control. They were also fairly easy to get along with and easy to please, especially when some kind of science was involved. She just needed to gather the courage to say something and then he would explain.

“But, do I really want to know the answers to these questions?” She was pretty sure that she did not, which was why she did not ask. _I should just enjoy this then and shut the hell up about it_.

Of course, her mind would not shut up about it. She _needed_ answers; that was just who she was. It just did not make any sense for him to accept her beyond the annoyance that he had always seen her as, even if she had been relatively cool around him lately. Sighing, she ducked her head and did her best not to think about it. She did not want to turn back into the creepy kid that he saw. She had made too much progress to mess it up now, she reminded herself.

“Hey, you okay?” Todd inquired as he stepped into the living room with drinks in his hands.

Her head snapped up and she quickly gave him a fake smile. “Yeah, just a little tired.”

“You sure? Ready to go home?” he asked with a concerned look on his face. He placed their drinks, simple root beers, on the coffee table. He did not believe in coasters, even though his She-she would probably have a heart attack if she saw.

“Trying to get rid of me already?” She managed a teasing smile, hoping he bought it.

He arched an eyebrow. “You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded, thinking it might be best to stop talking altogether. She did not want to make him nervous or concerned. After all, it was not like he could stop her thoughts. Well, he could, but she would have to ask questions and she still did not want to do that. He continued to look at her intently and he sat down next to her. He did not even take his eyes off of her as he reached for his drink to take a sip.

“C’mon, tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been weird for a couple of days,” he pointed out.

She gasped, surprised that he noticed. “Only a couple of days?” she asked, trying to tease and cover her shock.

“Stop acting this way. You’ve never been one to hold back, so tell me what’s up. Things seemed cool until we went out with my friends a few days ago. Did one of those idiots say something to you? You have to excuse us because we’re all ex-jocks and sometimes we say stupid things due to head injuries.”

She shook her head. “Your friends didn’t say anything. They were pretty cool.”

“Okay, good to know. Sometimes, we get stupid.”

She chuckled at that. “The paleontologists get stupid?” She was not sure where he found paleontologists former jocks from, but he knew at least three of them. It seemed weird.

He gave her a deadpan look. “It happens, like when a herpetologist, chemist, and an engineer get stupid.”

“A building explodes when you and your friends get stupid?”

He tried to fight it, but a laugh escaped him nonetheless. “Okay, not that stupid. I still don’t understand how that combination of scientists always equals an exploding building.”

“Uh… because they’re fucking nuts.”

“Yeah, they are, but you’ve changed the subject. Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with you or not?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Did I do something? I thought I was doing better, treating you like a person and not acting like a nut.”

She blinked, shocked that he admitted that, but again, he was pretty straightforward and honest. “Why?” she managed. Somehow, she was even able to look at him, but only for a moment.

“Why what? Why did I say that?” He hit himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. “I told you, I’m stupid sometimes.”

She gave him a small half-smile just because she thought he was cute. _I know that, you big idiot. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you, or remain in love with you. I’m not sure which. I’m also not sure why you want to treat_ _me like I’m not a stalker_. _Why are you wiling to treat me like I’m cool now?_

“Why have you been treating me this way? Why am I not your little sister’s creepy friend anymore?” she inquired while she had the opening and courage.

He chuckled and scratched his head. “Because you’re not creepy. I realized that when we were at dinner and you said those kind words to me. Not only were they kind words, but they were the words I really needed to hear, from someone that wasn’t my pop or She-she. In that moment, I realized that you see me, but I didn’t see you. You saw the person within me, but I didn’t see the person within you. I couldn’t stand that thought. I wanted to see you, too.”

She nodded because it was all she could do for a long moment. She could hardly fathom that Todd wanted to know her. The very thought made her feel like she was floating and falling at the same time.

“And that’s why...?” she could not finish the thought because she did not know what they were doing, so she could not say “hanging out” and she was almost certain they were not dating.

He smiled softly at her, making her melt internally. “Well, that and I’ve learned that I like your company.”

 _Why?_ “Because I remind you of Jade?”

He scoffed and shook his head. “You don’t remind me of Jade in the slightest. You’re two totally different people and you know that. You’re you and you’re cool. I like spending time with you, which, I admit, is way weird. I mean, I’ve spent your entire life being freaked out by you, but sitting down with you, I find you’re not that creepy. You’re insightful and funny. You’re smart and you’re kind. Sure, you’re scary, but not in a way I’m not used to.”

Her expression dropped. “Because of the stalking stuff?”

“No, because I live with crazy, scary women.”

She laughed. “Oh, yeah. So, you like being around me?”

“Of course, that’s why I don’t mind when you show up at the door and why I invite you out with my friends. It’s why I suggest we go walk around the neighborhood or try new restaurants around here. It’s nice being around someone who knows what I need, even if I try to ignore it. I also want to learn what you need. Like I said, I want to know you how you know me.”

She could not help smiling. He actually liked her and wanted to get to know her. It was like a dream come true and she just had to make sure she did not blow it. She needed to be herself, something that he already appreciated, and might learn to appreciate more.

“Right now, I need to eat some pizza,” she remarked.

“Well, that I can supply,” he laughed as he flipped open the pizza box.

They proceeded with their planned day. Mayah felt better after having her questions answered, but there was still something underneath it all. She was not sure what to make of that, but decided to ignore it. One step at a time. 

-8-8-8-8-

For some reason that Jayden could not figure out, she could not look Bokuden or Hana in the eye anymore. Well, actually, she could not even be near Hana without finding some excuse, mumbling it in Hana’s general direction, and fleeing the scene, which she knew was weird considering now even a few days ago all she wanted was Hana’s undivided attention. Not mention, not even a couple of days ago, she was kissing Hana like their lives depended on it. She was only slightly less awkward with Bokuden and she could not understand why.

She definitely noticed that she still got butterflies in her stomach when Hana was around. But, the feeling did not move her closer to Hana like before. She still wanted Hana to think she was cool, but she did not feel like she was cool anymore. _What if she didn’t like kissing me? What if she thinks I’m a fucking tool? What if…?_

“Jade, you okay?” Bokuden asked, interrupting her thoughts as he sat next to the strangely quiet younger woman. He had to shove her to get her attention.

“Huh?” Her head shot up from staring into her congee, which she had not touched.

“You’re lost in your breakfast … again. What’s the deal? You’re not talking to me or anything.”

“Oh, sorry.” It did not occur to her that apologizing was not making things any better.

When he brow furrowed, she knew that she had not said the right thing. “Sorry? What the hell? Jade, seriously, what’s wrong? Are you upset because you lost a sparring match to Hana?” he inquired, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Jayden gasped. “How do you know?”

He scoffed. “I know you, duh. The second you saw her in action, I knew you were planning to fight her. That’s how you are. You were weird around her, but now you’re not even looking at her. Before, I thought you were nervous about fighting her, eager even. Now, I figure you’re the way you are because she kicked your butt and you don’t know how to handle it.”

Green eyes glared and she jumped up. “She didn’t kick my butt! My butt does not get kicked, so I don’t have to handle it!” Of course, her butt did get kicked and she wondered if maybe she did not know how to handle it. _Maybe this is why I’m all nuts around Hana and Bokuden. Or maybe I’m just nuts in general. Fuck this_.

Disliking the thoughts clouding her mind and the muddled emotions storming through her just the same, she tossed her hands up in frustration. She was aware that she was somewhat throwing a tantrum, but she left anyway. She felt like she was coming apart at the seams. The world did not make any sense. She did not make any sense and she had no clue how to deal with it.

She ended up taking refuge behind a building, hugging herself as if to keep everything together. She was tempted to call her mothers. Surely they would be able to help her through this thick, swamp-like confusion. Before she could get out her version of the Kimmunicator, Hana was sitting next to her. She yelped.

“What’s the big deal, sneaking up on me?” Jayden shouted while glaring at the kunoichi. She was about to jump to her feet, but Hana put a heavy arm around her shoulders.

“Hello, I’m a ninja. It’s kinda what I do.”

Jayden frowned. “What the hell are you doing here? Why the hell are you even here?”

Hana gave her a soft smile and reached up, gently caressing Jayden’s cheek with rough, but gentle fingertips. The younger warrior felt her heart speed up, like it was going to burst from her chest. And while her stomach twisted, delight somehow floated across every inch of her skin. Her eyes drifted shut and briefly she reveled in this extremely alien feeling.

“What are you doing to me?” Jayden whispered, anger forgotten.

“Asks the adorable herpetologist who kissed me first and left me wanting more. Why have you been avoiding me?”

Jayden scowled because she did not have a response to that, not one that made sense anyway. She wracked her brain, hoping to come up with something. It was difficult to think with Hana touching her, caressing her.

“You make me feel like I’m drowning,” Jayden said, hoping that made sense because it was the truth.

Hana smiled softly. “And you don’t like it?”

“I should hate feeling so overwhelmed, so damned foggy, and just all around fucked up, but I don’t. I don’t know why, but I don’t.” Jayden sighed and held her head in her hands, hoping to contain the mess when her mind exploded. “Something’s wrong with me and you make it wrong with me. I don’t want something to be wrong with me.”

Hana gave her a look, cutely tilting her head to the side. Jayden was not sure what to make of the look, especially since she thought it was cute, but it did not set her at ease. Hana moving away did not make her feel much better, but then again, her being close had been just as nerve-wracking.

“Are you bothered that you kissed a woman?” Hana inquired in a low tone, as if to keep it a secret if it were true.

Jayden nearly jumped up, but somehow controlled herself enough to only throw up her arms. “Hell, no! I have two moms for God sakes! I’m a lesbian!” _Okay, maybe a lesbian. I’m not totally sure, but I can’t tell her that_.

Hana nodded. “Then some other confusion has you. All right. Well, I’m here for however long as you are. You can find me if you want.”

Jayden nodded and thought that was the end of things, but found herself pleasantly surprised. Hana leaned down and pressed her lips to Jayden’s mouth. All too soon, Hana pulled away, earning a disappointed mew from Jayden. Hana gently caressed Jayden’s cheek with her thumb.

“Find me,” the older woman whispered before vanishing.

Jayden whimpered, still feeling the wonderful though light pressure against her cheek. It turned through her flesh and seared its way throughout her body, igniting her blood and every nerve ending. Her hand was shaking and it went to her chest to keep her heart from bursting for the area.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” she muttered, shaking her head a little. Part of her dared to admit that she liked it.

Swallowing, she buried her head in her hands once more and rubbed her face. She did not know what to do. The world was spinning wildly. She needed anchors.

“Mom, Mommy, somebody,” Jayden begged, speaking into her Kimmunicator.

“Hey, monster, what’s up?” Shego’s smile could be heard in her voice.

Jayden smiled a bit. “Mommy, it’s face time, so you don’t have to put the phone to your ear.” Unlike most teens, she found it oddly endearing when technology confused her mommy. She loved being able to help her mommy in someway.

“Oh, goddamn it.” Shego moved the phone to in front of her. “Hey, again, monster.” Now, Jayden could see her smile. Unfortunately, it meant that her mommy could see her, too.

“Hey, Mommy.” She did her best to look normal, but she knew it was not effective. Her face felt too funny for her to look normal.

“What’s with that face, monster? I figured you’d be causing all kinds of property damage by now, way too busy to call us, and definitely not appearing the definition of misery,” Shego teased.

“I am not the fucking definition,” she pouted.

“Right, and you’re also not moping.”

“I’m not!”

Emerald eyes rolled. “You’re also not yelling. What has you so damned worked up already?”

Jayden sighed. “Honestly, I don’t fucking know. I feel weird. I kissed a girl. Or she kissed me. Or we kissed each other. I dunno.”

“You kissed…? Kimmie!” Shego screamed, a mix between horrified and amazed. “Kimmie, get in here! Your kid is kissing girls in foreign countries!”

“Mommy!” Jayden shouted, utterly mortified. Groaning, she covered her face with one hand and hoped like hell her mom had not heard that.

“Way to go, Jade!” Kim cheered as she appeared on screen with a giant grin, lighting up her features. And this convinced Jayden that the universe was suddenly out to make her life difficult.

“Don’t encourage her or I’ll assume she picked it up from you,” Shego scolded her spouse, swatting Kim on the butt. The redhead hissed before turning her attention to the screen.

“Do you like the girls you’re kissing?” Kim asked.

“It was one girl! One. And, yes, I think I like her. I think. I dunno. She makes me crazy,” Jayden groaned, shaking her head again, like she was trying to get the bewildering thoughts out of her brain.

“Welcome to my world,” Shego muttered. Kim threw the older woman a brief pout, which was enough for Shego to put her arm around Kim’s waist and rub her hip to assuage any misunderstandings.

“So … there’s no way to become un-crazy?” Jayden guessed.

“Why would you want to? You don’t like this girl, even though you’re attracted to her?” Kim inquired, now holding Shego close to her.

Jayden blinked. “Um … that sounds stupid.”

Shego’s brow furrowed. “What’s the problem, Jade? It sounds like you like a girl.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Jayden answered, not totally sure what she meant.

“Aw, mini-pumpkin, you just need to let her know you like her. Trust me, it’s best that you face it head on. Running from it is only hurtful in the end, especially if she likes you back. You need to go for it,” Shego encouraged her.

A sad smile settled on Jayden’s face. “She makes me feel funny in my stomach and I don’t know what to do.”

Kim laughed. “Your mommy still makes me feel funny in my stomach. It might feel strange now, but it’s a good thing. One day, you might even learn to like it.”

“Really?” She did not mean to sound as skeptical as she did, but she could not see how anyone could learn to like a bubbling in her stomach.

“Really,” her mom tried to assure her.

“Jade, just jump right into it, like you always do. I fought my feelings for your mom for way longer than necessary and brought us both more misery than I ever should. So, you need to just jump right in. You might get hurt or you might feel sick, but it’ll be even worse if you don’t,” Shego stated.

Jayden sobered at that. She could not fathom her mommy running from her feelings from her mom. She was rather thankful for the face time because she could see the shadows in their eyes as Shego spoke of the past. They had gone through hard times. She did not want such shadows.

“All right,” Jayden said with renewed resolve. With her mothers blessings and assurances, she would pick herself up and try to meet this feeling – whatever the hell it was – head on.

Her mothers grinned. “That’s our monster,” Shego declared.

“Thanks, Mommy and Mom. I’m gonna go now.”

“Okay, just remember safe sex.” Leave it to her mommy to ruin the moment.

“Mommy!” Jayden blushed a deep crimson.

“Shego!” Kim chided her spouse.

Shego chuckled. “What? She’s kissing girls around the world already. I figured that was the next logical step.”

“That’s gross!” Jayden huffed, making a face.

“Okay, just making sure. Good luck, monster. Love you,” Shego said.

“Yeah, we love you, baby,” Kim stated.

“I love you, too. See you soon.” The call was disconnected and Jayden inhaled. Standing up straight, she moved to seek out the ninja that she apparently liked. The thought made her feel uneasy, like before, but she guessed that was normal.

She found Hana sparring with several students, but Hana made eye contact with her. Jayden felt her pulse speed up and her stomach flip, just from the eye contact. Before she knew it, Hana dropped all of her sparring partners and was by Jayden’s side.

“Shall we take a walk?” Hana proposed.

Jayden only nodded and followed the older woman’s lead. Silently, they walked off of school grounds into the surrounding forest. They came to a small spring and Hana sat down on a large rock. Jayden sat down with her. There was barely any space between them, but they made sure not to touch.

“I come here when I need to get away from the school and remember that I’m more than ‘the mystical, magic ninja.’ Spending all my vacations here, I used to forget when I was younger and alone,” Hana commented.

“You spent all your vacations here? “

“Yeah. It was part of a deal with my parents, so they could keep me. I’m not supposed to know about it, but when I was a baby, Master Sensei gave me to them because of Ron. I don’t know why he assumed they would just give me back when he asked, but when he tried to take me back at three, they refused. To avoid having to fight my brother, Yori, and probably your mom, Master Sensei worked out a deal that I’d spend my vacations from school here to learn about my powers and martial arts and junk. I used to hate it, being locked away from all of the other students until I learned control and then being kept away most of the time while I learned advanced stuff. I mean, yeah, it was important, but I had little kid stuff, I’d rather do. Later on, I had teen stuff I wanted to do.”

“And now? You’re not a kid anymore. You don’t have to come,” Jayden pointed out.

“No, I don’t, but I get to hang out with my nephews and meet adorable herpetologists.” She smiled. “Makes being here a lot less horrible.”

Jayden took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never liked someone like this before. I don’t know how to handle it.”

Her smile remained and she took Jayden’s hand into her own. The simple gesture made warmth spread all through out Jayden and she was already beginning to understand the upside to these feelings. Yeah, they might drive her mad, but madness never felt so good.

“I’d like to help you handle if you let me. I like you, too. I’ve never met anyone quite like you and I’d like to see what is ahead of us,” Hana said.

“I think I’d like that, too.”

Hana moved just a little closer and Jayden could guess what was coming. The kiss was soft and sweet. Jayden felt like she could get lost in the experience. She finally understood what all of the hoopla was about with kissing. She wanted to do it as often as possible. In fact, she gave chase as Hana tried to pull away. Hana could not help laughing.

“You truly are adorable,” she said and ran her hand through Jayden’s long, raven locks. “How about we talk some in between kisses? I’d like to get to know you beyond the crazy stories and the fighting skills I’ve seen.”

Jayden smiled. “I want to know more about you, too. So, talking in between kisses is great. But … um…” She could feel a blush burning her cheeks.

Hana chuckled and gave Jayden just what she wanted. Jayden could not figure out how she thought that she lived a full life before experiencing Hana’s kisses. Added to that, Hana gently caressed her cheek with her thumb and Jayden was almost ready to concede she actually was not alive. At some point, she had to have died and Hana was some wonderful angel.

“Do you think that’ll hold you for a few minutes?” Hana asked in a gentle, but teasing tone.

“Totally,” Jayden answered, licking her lips, wanting to taste Hana for as long as possible. 

-8-8-8-8-

Mayah groaned as she found herself staring into her closet for quite possibly the billionth time, at least. She was about to go meet Todd for dinner and they were going to go kill time doing something. “Something” was never specified in the other three occasions they had done this since she finally accepted that Todd was her friend.

“A friend? Would I spend this much time wondering what to wear with Jade and Razi?” Mayah asked herself. The answer to that was obvious, but it did not stop her from scouring her closet.

She knew from the past three events that wearing a dress with high heels might not be practical. The last “something” they did involved wandering around a cultural fair downtown for several hours. It was an excellent experience and had been a surprise from Todd. She had picked the “something” before that and they had ended up walking along the pier to view ships coming in. He had been surprised to find out that she liked the sea and ships. He had even asked her about it and she wished that she had something beyond saying, “The water calms me and I’ve always marveled at something as big as a cargo ship staying above something like water.”

Intellectually, she knew how ships worked and if she did not Raziya would have gladly explained it – in agonizing detail. She did not want him to think that she was an idiot for finding it so miraculous and when he smiled down at her, she knew that he just understood and accepted it. He accepted her, which was mind-blowing. She was not sure how she had maintained her cool after that, but she was sure the gentle ocean breeze had helped.

“Best to go with slacks,” she decided.

She picked out a pair of black slacks and form fitting dark blue shirt that highlighted her slightly more than average bust size. She doubted he had noticed or would ever notice, but it did not hurt to be prepared. She shook that thought away as she decided on shoes, which were heels, but not exceptionally high. She then had to ease out of the house without arousing her parents’ suspicion. Thankfully, her mother was at conference. She knew her mother would not approve of her spending so much time with Todd. She could bluff her way past her dad.

“Dad, I’m borrowing the car, if you’re cool with that,” Mayah called from a side door. She was aware that her father and Chyna, her baby sister, were hanging out in the living room. Her dad bonded with Chyna by watching princess cartoons, something they had done since Chyna was born.

“Can you pick your brother up?” Dahntay replied.

“Which one and from where?” She prayed it was Romah because she did not want to be in an enclosed space with Aztek after he had spent hours doing God-knows-what. She would really like to have her own car, but her parents told her that she would have to wait until she graduated college for that privilege.

“Romah.”

She nodded. “I got him. He’s good until ten, right?”

“Unless he calls and says otherwise.”

“Okay.”

She left, not needing to take Dahntay’s keys because she had her own. She was out the door in no time. She met Todd at the restaurant, where he was standing just inside the lobby. He was dressed in a suit, appearing quite dapper in a three-piece black suit with an emerald green shirt.

“Hey,” she greeted him, doing her best not to sound giddy. She could not recall him looking as sharp as he did in their last three meetings. It was odd, and old thoughts began creeping into her mind. _Is this a date?_ She shook the thought away, dismissing it as madness.

“Hey there. I’ve got us a great table,” Todd grinned proudly, holding out his hand for her.

She smiled. “Did you name drop, Doctor Possible-Gooding?” she teased.

“Well, I do have a lot of names to drop.”

She chuckled and they were led to an admittedly great table with a stunning view of the beautiful Go City skyline. As they perused the menus, she noticed Todd looking at her over his menu. His lime eyes seemed to shine, which she thought was weird. They shared their usual conversation and he continued eyeing her. Taking a deep breath, she decided to take a chance since had paid off before.

“Smiles, is this a date? Are we dating?” she sort of blurted out. She could not help feeling pride in herself for not blushing.

He shrugged rather nonchalantly, especially considering the question. “Let’s investigate and run through the checklist.” She arched an eyebrow and he smiled. “How many outfits did you try on before you settled on that one?”

“Six.”

“Do you usually try on that many before we hang out?”

“Sometimes more.”

“Are you wearing perfume that you don’t usually wear?”

“Yes.”

“Are you wearing makeup?”

“A little. Not much.”

“But, more than usual?”

“Considering the usual is none, yes, more than usual.”

He nodded. “Okay, your turn.”

Her brow furrowed and she frowned slightly. She could not figure out what he meant. And then it dawned on her; Todd had just gone through his list.

“Have you been wearing your formal clothes to these things?” she inquired.

“Yup.”

“Do you comb and brush your hair before we hang out?”

“Sure do.”

“Cologne?”

“My best.”

“Do you tell your friends not to call you when you’re out with me?”

“Yeah, I do. I tell them not to text me, too, unless they’re dying.”

“Oh, my god,” she whispered in awe. “We’re dating. Why didn’t you say anything?”

A snort that sounded like a chuckle escaped him. “Unless I’m dating myself, there’s nothing to say. Besides, you didn’t seem to care. I wanted to respect that.”

“You don’t think it’s creepy?”

“The age thing has always bothered me, but I’ve realized, while talking with you, I don’t think about your age anymore. You’re just Mayah now, my rather cool friend, who knows me really well and who I’m getting to know better. Besides, do you know we’re the same age as Kimmie and She-she when they met?”

She had to beam at the comparison. “Do you realize that you just put us in for the long haul?”

He made a noise and his drink came out his nose. “Ack!”

 _Why do I find that cute?_ “Calm down, Smiles. I’m not asking you for a fucking ring. It is nice to know we’re dating and you’re comfortable with it. Let’s take it slow, like we have been doing.” They needed to take it slow so she could wrap her mind around it. She was going to need to call Raziya. Someone was going to have to talk her down because she certain that she was delusional or something now.

Nodding, he smiled. “You make a good point. I’ve found myself really enjoying your company. You’re an awesome person.”

A blush actually stained her cheeks. Thankfully, he did not bring it up. They enjoyed their time out as always, even though there were moments that she ended up lost in her head. But, he brought her back gently with soft words and slight caresses to her hands. He kept smiling at her, like he was genuinely happy to have her by his side.

Mayah practically floated home. She reveled in the knowledge that she was dating the love of her life. She decided to keep it to herself now to avoid her friends teasing, making light of the situation, and to avoid her mother’s wrath. She was all too aware that her mother thought that she was only hurting herself by loving Todd.

She sighed contently and then smiled to herself. _All the pain over the years is worth this feeling_. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden was eating breakfast with Bokuden, as had become her habit. She had breakfast and lunch with him. Hana did not join them, eating her meals alone in her room or in the woods. One day, when she had sat with them, there was a weird tension between the relatives. Jayden was not sure why it was, but neither of them wanted to discuss it. She hated to think it was her fault, but she did not want to bring it up again.

She was learning that some things were beyond her scope. It sucked to find out, but it was true. She wished that she was a bit more sophisticated, but then again, Hana had dubbed her somewhat clueless nature “adorable” and Jayden liked that more than figuring out what was going on.

“You want to study with me today? I’m being permitted into the grand library and I’m sure Master Sensei would let you come. I mean, we’re equally awesome warriors,” he said.

She smiled, even though he had been saying such things to her for a while. “Sounds cool.”

For some reason, her response drew a frown from him. “Unless you’re going to hang out with _my_ _aunt_ today.”

For weeks, he had been referring to Hana as “my aunt,” as if reminding Jayden of their familial relation. Something in his tone hit her in her chest every time he said it. It was not like he was trying to take possession of Hana, but still trying to warn her away. She had no idea why he was so bothered. It was not like he knew that she was … dating? … his aunt. _What the hell is this we’re doing?_ Whatever it was, he did not even know about it, so she did not see how it would bother him.

“Is it a crime for me to hang out with Hana now?” she inquired with an arched eyebrow. She felt like she divided her time fairly well, enjoying both Bokuden and Hana when she was with them … most of the time. Then, there were times, like now, when Bokuden’s attitude baffled her to no end.

“No,” he said and then blinked, as if coming out of a haze. “No, of course, not. It’s just you’ve been hanging out with her a lot. I think I just miss you.”

Her eyes went wide because she had not expected that response. “I’m here everyday, Bo. We eat, we talk, and we train. Sure, we haven’t blown anything up like we usually would do, but we’re together.”

“No, we’re not. You’re just making time with me.”

Her forehead wrinkled briefly. “What? No, I’m hanging out with you as always, but not as often because I’m trying to hang out with Hana, too. Is that so wrong? I hang out with Razi and Mayah, too.”

“With me! We’re a team,” he insisted, but with more force than necessary. He made a fist and motioned like he was going to bang it on the table, but thought better of it. He eyed her with intense, bordering on furious brown eyes.

She was taken aback because he never raised his voice. There was more to it this than she could ever understand, she knew. Her brow furrowed more so than before as she processed things, or at least tried to. Before she could manage a word, he stood up to leave.

“I’ll see you later,” he stated with his back to her. He then left.  

Jayden frowned at her meal and his. She did not understand what just happened. She was confused and her head hurt. _Why the hell is he pissed at me? What did I do? Why doesn’t he want me seeing Hana?_

She retired to her room, feeling as if all her life had been sucked out of her. Sighing, she tried turn her mind off, but it did not work. She lay down, unsure of when she fell asleep, but she did because she was taken from it.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Hana grinned at her. 

Rubbing her eye, Jayden blinked until the ninja came into focus. “Hey. What time is it?” she asked though a yawn.

“Past noon. I came in here earlier and you were dead to the world. You okay?”

Jayden’s brow furrowed at what she thought was a loaded question. She was pretty sure that she was not okay. One of her best friends was upset with her, which had been something that she had set out to correct at the start of this weird journey. She was … involved … with said best friend’s aunt. _There’s something fucking fucked up here, but damned if I can figure out what_.

“Guess you’re not okay. Good thing I brought you some lunch. C’mon, sit up,” Hana urged her.

Jayden nodded and obeyed without word. Hana began cleaning up the futon and putting it away while Jayden inspected her lunch. Hana moved to sit against the wall of the tiny room, leaving her legs open. Jayden sat between the powerful limbs. It was a position that they had found themselves in once, late at night while talking and joking around, and they both found themselves comfortable with it.

“You ready to tell me what’s wrong? I know I didn’t do anything or you’d have chewed me out when it happened,” Hana commented, rubbing Jayden’s bare biceps.

Jayden had quickly gotten over her shyness and awkwardness with Hana as soon as she accepted her feelings for the older woman. Hana seemed to think the “loud extrovert” part of her was even cuter than the “coy warrior” part of her. Hana seemed to appreciate her as a person, but Jayden did not fully understand that. She appreciated Hana as a person, which she knew Hana did not get much of.

“Bokuden got mad at me at breakfast. I think he’s pissed because I’m hanging out with you and not him. I think that was it, anyway,” Jayden answered with a scrunched up face.

Hana ran her hand through Jayden’s hair and gently kissed her neck. “He doesn’t want to share you. I understand, as I’d like to have you to myself sometimes.”

She knew those words were meant to put a smile on her face, but all she could focus on was the first part. “I fucking hate when he’s pissed at me. That shit puts knots in my damn stomach and makes me feel so sick. He’s the only one who won’t just tell me what the fuck is wrong. Our other friends know that they have to spell shit out for me sometimes, but he doesn’t. It’s such bullshit,” she growled.

Hana nuzzled her, as if trying to calm her down. “He doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. He might also recognize on some level, he’s being ridiculous.”

Jayden frowned. “I still wish I knew what the fuck was bothering him. I don’t even want to tell him about us because he seems so damn out of sorts. He’s pissed I’m just hanging out with you.”

“I think it’s best for you to hold off on that.”

“Why?” Jayden wondered why they were a secret. She liked Hana. God, she fucking liked Hana. She wanted to scream it from the mountaintops, but she held off because she did not even know what this thing was, so she did not know what to scream. She did not even know if Hana felt the same way.

Hana sighed. “Jade, he still has feelings for you. It will hurt him to know we’re more than friends.”

Jayden frowned because that made sense. It made sense and she wished it did not. She wished she did not know it. She wished that she could just make him different, so he could move on.

“Come on, you need some fresh air and a good butt kicking,” Hana declared as she rose to her feet.

“Hey! You can have the former, but I’m dishing out the latter!”

Hana chuckled and they made their way to their favorite clearing in the woods to spar. Try as she might, Jayden was no match for Hana, even when the ninja was playing around. They actually laughed more than they sparred, which said a lot because they sparred for a couple of hours. In between that, they ate the lunch Hana had brought and talked. That all ended when Hana purposely took Jayden’s legs out from under her while they were fighting, causing the younger woman to fall. Hana went down with her, laughing all the way down as she came to rest on top of Jayden.  

They had been in this position many times and Jayden had learned that she enjoyed Hana’s weight on her. They smiled at each other and she felt Hana’s fingertips on her bicep. She could not help kissing Hana, not that she tried to stop herself. Hana returned the show of affection and they laughed when they broke apart.

“I think I laugh the most when I’m with you,” Jayden confessed.

“I’m glad. I have so much fun with you that I need to let it out. A lot of people don’t get me, especially back home and in this stupid school. I feel like I can be myself around you and myself seems to be very silly. Thank you for that.”

Jayden offered her a sad smile. She had seen how the other ninjas avoided Hana, possibly jealous or afraid. It did not occur to her that Hana might have similar problems in the real world.

“It’s stupid people don’t get how fucking amazing you are,” Jayden whispered.

“They’re just not as cool as you,” Hana chuckled.

“Tell me.”

Hana sighed, but nodded. “I’ve been an outcast most of my life, not just here. In regular school, all the way through high school, I was treated differently because I was so clearly adopted, and because I was Japanese, but raised Jewish. I was just weird to people and they didn’t really try to know me. Most of the time, they just made fun of me. Sometimes, I felt like I didn’t know me. I didn’t know what it meant to be Japanese and really don’t consider myself Japanese despite Yori teaching me what she could. For a long time, I just told people I was Jewish, which made them look at me weird. I made a few friends, but nothing very deep.

“Here, I’d been segregated from most of the students most of my life due to my powers. When I was finally set free, I couldn’t figure out how to act around them. I was awkward in regular school, but at super-secret ninja school, I was like the queen of antisocial awk-weird-ness. I could easily beat them in matches as expected, but socializing with them had quickly turned impossible. They didn’t like me because they thought I was being favored or just because I could beat them or a million other things I never figured out. No one really understands me outside of my family … until you came along, Jade. No one really accepted me as is until you.”

Hana sniffled and her eyes shined with internalized pain. Jayden kissed Hana, as if trying to take the ache away. Hana returned it with a matching passion. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden returned to her room on cloud nine, which was how she typically felt after a day with Hana. Just talking with Hana was great, but kissing and sparring were the icing on a very sweet cake. The feeling was short lived. She had a visitor.

“Uncle Ron. What’s up?” She had not seen Ron for her entire stay. Granted, her attention was otherwise occupied and he always had things to do when at the school anyway.

He had his arms folded across his chest and he scowled at her, making her feel a knot in her stomach typically caused by his son. She would give all of her worldly goods, including her prized reptile collection to get him to stop looking at her like that. She had trouble looking him in the eye as he glared at her.

“What’s up? You’ve ripped my son’s heart out of his chest twice and now you’re doing god-knows-what with my little sister, his aunt. What the hell is wrong with you? Haven’t you done enough damage? Are you just going to run through my family?” he demanded, making a grand gesture with his hand, and his words made her flinch.

“Uncle Ron, it’s not like that. I really like Hana—” she tried to explain, but he cut her off.

He scoffed. “What experiment are you doing now, Jade? Lemme guess—”

“It’s not an experiment! I really like her. Bokuden wasn’t an experiment either.”

He did not move a muscle except to go into his pocket. “This is a plane ticket. I expect you on that flight tomorrow. If you care about Bokuden at all, you’ll stop doing this, stop hurting him.” He left after that, vanishing into the night like a comic book hero. The plane ticket fell to the floor.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she stared at the plane ticket. She would not leave. She could straighten this all out. She just needed to explain to Ron and Bokuden, explain her feelings. She decided on that and took off, but the Stoppable family was nowhere to be found, not that night or the following morning. There was nothing to explain and there was no one to explain to. There was no one to help her sort out her thoughts or feelings either and no reassuring caresses or kisses. There was no one who wanted her around. So, Jayden got on the plane. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: things fall apart.


	4. Expression Four: Sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these Disney characters; they’re owned by Disney, obviously. I do, however, own Jayden, Todd, Mayah, Raziya, and Bokuden.

Expression Four: Sight

Jayden did not want to leave her room and she was being quiet. Very quiet. This was, of course, very troubling to her mothers. Added to that, she had made her own way home from the airport and had not made a peep when she showed up after midnight. She did not greet her mothers in any way and they happened upon her when Shego went to shut her bedroom door the next morning. Jayden was curled up in her bed, refusing to say anything or even more. They had tried to get her to open up, but she had completely shut down. She lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Whoever said it’s better to have loved and all that crap obviously never had to raise a teenager,” Shego sighed, glancing up the stairs. She and Kim were sitting on the sofa, trying to figure out what to do to help their child. They had figured that Jayden’s heart was broken since she had her first love encounter while she was gone. “In fact, the guy probably never _was_ a teenager.”

Kim chuckled a bit. “It is the end of the world from what I can remember.”

A loud groan escaped the older woman. “Don’t remind me that you were once with people. As far as my mind is concerned, I’m your first and last.”

The redhead laughed, even though she suspected that her spouse was serious. They all dealt with things in their own ways, after all. This brought her back to Jayden. Their daughter typically dealt with things with a lot more yelling. They could only guess that Jayden was suffering from a broken heart.

“You know you should talk to her. You can relate to her,” Shego stated, as much as that pained her to admit.

Kim nodded, making sure to keep thoughts at bay of why she could relate to being heartbroken. Jayden had not opened up to them when they had checked on her earlier. She had barely looked at them, even when they appeared with food. They doubted that she heard anything they sad when they tried to talk to her and they were left to assume that this was caused by a broken heart. Maybe just one of them would have more success.

“Wish me luck,” the scientist sighed as she rose to her feet.

“If you do make it through to her, I’ll make pasta for dinner,” Shego proclaimed.

Kim grinned. “You definitely know how to motivate me,” she joked.

The older woman smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. She was worried for their daughter. Kim was the same, so she climbed the stairs with her heart pounding as if she were undertaking her greatest mission ever. Gently rapping on Jayden’s door, there was no answer, as expected.

“Jade,” Kim called as she entered. Jayden was merely a lump in her bed with her breakfast sitting cold on the nightstand.

The sight caused a pain in Kim’s chest. She sat down on the bed and rubbed Jayden’s back. The teen made a noise and Kim took that as a good sign. She decided to just talk as Jayden tucked herself into a ball. She continued to rub her daughter’s back as she spoke.

“I know a little bit about heartbreak if that’s what this about. Back when I was about your age, well, a little younger actually, I had my first love. He was—”

Jayden turned and tired, watery eyes locked onto Kim. “He?”

Kim chuckled; _of course, that would get a reaction out of her_. “Yes, he. My first love was a guy. He was a cute musician and artist. I was over the moon at first because every girl wanted him, but he wanted me.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, you know I was skipped a few times, right?”

“Yeah, you didn’t want me to get skipped a bunch.”

A small smile settled on Kim’s face. “That’s right because you had friends that you shouldn’t have to leave behind. Besides, when you’re so young in higher grades, it makes it hard to socialize. I was in college by the time I had my first love, but I was younger than you.”

“Was he older than you or something?”

“No, we were the same age, so he was in high school. We were apart for a long time. One day, I surprised him and saw what he did when I wasn’t around.”

Jayden frowned. “What did he do?”

“He was sleeping around with other girls. I was angry and hurt.”

“What did you do to him?”

“There was a lot of yelling and insults. I didn’t hit him because I knew I’d kill him if I did. As much as I was hurting, I didn’t want to murder him. I loved him.”

“So, what happened next?”

“I left. I got over it and got a girlfriend.” It was at this point that Kim thought she might not be able to get through to Jayden. Despite what happened with Josh so many years ago, she had bounced back fairly easily and quickly. That was who she was until Shego. She had been willing to live as Shego’s pet to be close to her. To this day, she knew that she never would have done that for anyone else and wondered what inside of her had moved just enough for her to make such a life altering decision with ease.

She had never been able to move on from Shego, either. Shego had broken her heart with much more precision than Josh could have ever done. Kim would not discuss that with their daughter, though. She would never taint awestruck vision of Shego that their child held.

Jayden squinted and her forehead wrinkled as she tried to understand how things could be so simple. “Just like that?”

“Well, kid, I’m not normal. I got busy immediately, kept moving, going on missions, doing schoolwork, and just didn’t think about. So, I kinda moved on without realizing it,” Kim explained, which she believed should be the same way Jayden get over her broken heart.

Jayden’s brow furrowed. “You didn’t think about it?”

“Of course, I did. I guess I shouldn’t have said it that way. Every now and then, things would pop into my head. I wondered why I wasn’t enough for him, why he didn’t love me the way I loved him, and a million other things. To stop dwelling on it, I moved. I went on missions like crazy and exhausted myself so I couldn’t think.”

“And the pain just went away?”

“Eventually.”

Jayden nodded. “Did he ever explain why he fucked around on you?”

Sighing, Kim shook her head. “Nothing that made sense to me and a lot of excuses. By the time he had anything to say, I didn’t care. I had moved on and just figured that was his nature. I mean, moved on enough to be friends with him for a while, but never understood why he was the way he was. Sometimes, you can’t figure everything out.”

Jayden squinted, obviously confused. “Not even with a dissection?”

Kim had to laugh. “Nope, not even with a dissection. You also can’t force someone to love you the way you deserve to be loved.” Those words drew a deep scowl from Jayden.

“People suck.”

“Some of them. Look, monster, one day, you are going to meet an awesome boy or girl and you won’t know what hit you. They won’t know either. If it’s anything like me and your mommy, you’ll drive each other nuts, but love every second of it. You might try to get away from each other because you’re just going crazy, but you’ll always come back to each other because you can’t live without the other. Love hits hard, fast, and you almost never see it coming. Me and your mommy didn’t, your aunt Betty didn’t, Felix and Monique didn’t, and Ron and Yori didn’t.”

Jayden sighed. “I hate that there’s things I can’t figure out.”

“Well, if you could figure everything out, the world wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.”

Another heavy sigh escaped the teen. “I guess. You were young when you fell in love with Mommy, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

Jayden shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I’ll be young, too.”

Kim smiled. “As long as it’s someone who treats you right and loves you the way you deserve, then I’m fine with it. I know there’s the perfect person out there for you, mini-monster. Now, you up for pasta? Your mommy promised to make us some.”

“Yes!” And Jayden finally got up. Now that she was moving, Kim was certain that Jayden would bounce back, especially when she went to mess with their reptiles after dinner instead of returning to her room.

“Those snakes better not make their way out of cages!” Shego called, but they all knew that would not happen. The most that Shego could hope for was that her daughter remembered to put everything back in the cage. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Wow, Razi, I’m surprised you didn’t melt in the natural sunlight,” Mayah teased as their quartet was back together for school. They strolled through the quad with Mayah ahead with a hop in her step and a smile on her face. Raziya was right next to her, not as happy as she poured over notes from her time as an intern at her father’s lab. Bokuden and Jayden were behind them. Jayden was abnormally silent and sullen. Bokuden just looked at the youngest of them as if he wanted to chase away all of her demons, but also as if he wanted to slay her with his gaze. Their friends had no idea what to make of it.

“I never would’ve thought there’d come a day when I was pissed to come to school. I was doing such good work at my dad’s lab and meeting some really cool people. Jade, what’s got you all quiet? You figured out some cool science stuff?” Raziya inquired. Of course, she and Mayah assumed Jayden and Bokuden were still awkward with each other because of their trouble before the summer.

“I made poison darts, but Mommy made me get rid of them,” Jayden answered with a shrug. This earned her looks from her two female friends.

“Why’d you do that?” Mayah asked. Jayden was not usually one to make weapons.

“Probably to stab me in the heart again,” Bokuden grumbled. He frowned deeply and shoved his hands into his pockets as if they needed to be punished.

Mayah gasped in shock and stared at them with wide mismatched eyes. “Whoa, what the hell?”

“Bo, I thought you and Jade handled this crap in Japan,” Raziya pointed out, scowling now because she was not looking forward to them going through this now.

“That was before I saw her kissing my goddamn aunt!” he roared and his hands were free again, flung out in Jayden’s direction.

His shouting took all of them by surprise, including himself. They all stopped walking and silence engulfed them like a crushing bear hug. All of their eyes went wide and mouths dropped open. His chest heaved and the ladies all took a step back. Suddenly, green eyes narrowed.

“You spied on us?” Jayden demanded, scowling at him now.

He scoffed, as if that was completely ridiculous. “Spied? You two rolled around in the woods for all to freaking see! I didn’t need to spy! No one needed to spy! What the hell, Jade? You act like you’re asexual, but the second you see a super ninja, you’re shoving your tongue down her throat!”

“You don’t know what happened and you don’t know what the fuck I feel! You shouldn’t have been fucking spying!”

“I said I wasn’t! I was looking for you and saw you two going at like monkeys! You fed me all this crap about not feeling the same for me, but you’re willing to do God knows what with my aunt! My aunt!” he screamed, gesturing to himself.

She threw her hands up. “I can’t fucking help that she’s your aunt any more than I could help my goddamn feelings for her! But, why the fuck does it even matter? Hana ran away just like you did! So, back the fuck up! I’m sick of your goddamn family jumping down my throat because of my fucking feelings or lack thereof!”

“Oh, yeah, play the victim,” he huffed and then fled the scene.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” she screamed after him.

“Should I go after him?” Raziya proposed, even though she did not look eager to do so. She was not sure what she would say if she caught him. She focused on Jayden, whose face was red and she was shaking. Raziya put her arm around Jayden and gently held the smaller scientist to her. “He probably needs to process his anger and calm down.” No one called her a liar on that reasoning.

“His aunt?” Mayah said in disbelief, practically gapping at Jayden.

“I can’t help who she is! It’s not like I fucking consciously decided to fall for his goddamn aunt, not that that shit even matters. Uncle Ron made it clear I need to stay the fuck away from his fucking family and Hana fucking disappeared on me.” Jayden sniffled. “She abandoned me and I don’t know why…”

“Shh,” Raziya cooed, caressing the smaller girl’s shoulder.

“Was I wrong to fall for her?” Jayden asked with a whimper.

“Your feelings aren’t wrong. You can’t help who she is,” Mayah stated, patting her on the shoulder to be supportive. It was the truth, after all.

“Why does he have to be so upset? We’re not even together anymore. Hell, we might not have even been together in the first fucking place and I just completely misread the whole goddamn situation,” Jayden scowled.

“Are you okay?” Raziya asked.

“As okay as I possibly can be with Bo being pissed at me and Hana just abandoning me right after Uncle Ron accused me of messing up his family,” the youngest answered with a harsh frown.

“Ouch,” Raziya muttered.

“Uncle Ron really said that? Said you were messing up his family?” Mayah inquired in disbelief.

“Yeah, he was so pissed at me. He said that I broke Bo’s heart. But, what did he want me to do? Keep waiting for my feelings to change? Was I supposed to _pretend_ to have these feelings for him?” Jayden demanded.

“Of course not!” both of her friends stated.

“Look, they just need time to deal with the fact that while you have finally entered the realm of adulthood, you don’t and won’t return Bo’s feelings. He’ll figure it out. This is Bo, after all,” Raziya reasoned.

Jayden only nodded, still shaking badly. Raziya led her to a tree and forced her to sit down. Mayah followed them. They did not say anything for quite a while. Mayah was the one that broke the somewhat oppressive silence.

“This might be a bad time, but I need to tell you both something. Jade, this might upset you even more. But, I’ve been dating Smiley,” Mayah said.

If it were possible for all of the air to be sucked out of outside, it definitely would have happened. The scientists just sort of stared at her. Mayah was about to hyperventilate because of their lack of response.

“Say something,” the eldest begged, her voice cracking.

“I’m trying to figure out if your mother or mine is going to kill you, him, or both of you,” Jayden commented in a slightly dazed tone. She was serious about that.

Maya had to take a deep breath before speaking again. “So, you’re not freaked out? I mean, he’s your brother.”

“Uh, I just had a scream fest with Bo for seeing his aunt. Not even dating as far as I know and I definitely haven’t been in love with her forever. I’m happy for you and glad that Smiley is giving you a chance,” Jayden explained.

Mayah grinned. “Thanks for that.” Jayden just shrugged, even as Mayah hugged her tightly for her support. Mismatched eyes then went to Raziya. “Anything?”

Raziya shrugged, too. “I’ll make fun of you later. Enjoy your moment.”

Mayah smiled brightly, obviously taking Raziya up on her suggestion. She then regaled them with the tale of how she had ended up dating Todd. Raziya refrained from laughing, but Jayden chuckled several times. Mayah did not mind, but gave Jayden several punches and noogies to show that they were going to remain normal.

“When are you going to tell the parents?” Raziya asked curiously.

Now, it was Mayah’s turn to shrug. “We haven’t talked about that yet, but soon. I wanted to tell you guys first.”

The younger pair nodded, but did not say anything. Mayah did not mind. She was glad that Jayden did not flip out, which she had been expecting. Of course, she had not been expecting Jayden to have her own romance issues.

“So, how did you end up with … Hana?” Mayah inquired, catching herself on saying “Bo’s aunt.”

Jayden shook her head. “I don’t think I was ever _with_ her, not with how easily she disappeared on me. I might have been some kid that she was having fun with or something. I dunno. But, it was … nice while it lasted. I hope it’s nice for you and Smiles.”

“Aw! Our little girl is growing up!” Raziya declared, playfully patted Jayden on the head.

“Stop it!” Jayden growled, smacking the hands away.

They sat and spoke until they had class again. Jayden seemed better, so Mayah and Raziya decided to find Bokuden when they had a chance. He might be ready to talk since it was not in his nature to remain upset for too long. They hoped that they would be able to get him back on track, too. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jayden was not as fine as she seemed. She had done her best to keep moving like her mom suggested, but found it was not enough. She had worked with her mom at the lab, spent some time with Raziya, talking science, and even sparred with Mayah when the older woman had the time. Now, she was on her way to her mommy’s job. If nothing else, she could watch her mommy chew out recruits. And then the gods smiled upon her as she heard sirens and saw a car speed by. Glancing toward the heavens, she mouthed ‘thank you’ and took off on her skateboard/hoverboard.

“Please, have super powers. Please, have super powers,” Jayden prayed as she slipped on her gloves that mimicked her mommy’s talons. Really, all she needed was for whomever they were to offer a challenge. Well, she also needed to catch them.

Jayden was able to stay ahead of the sirens. She had to use a few shortcuts, but she caught up to the car. On a quick count, she took in four subjects wearing ski masks that covered everything except their eyes. She was just as surprised as they were when someone else crashed the party, literally.

A person clad in black smashed into the hood of the car. The driver slammed on the brakes and the person in black flipped off as if that had been the plan all along. Jayden’s mouth hit the pavement when she saw who that person was. 

“Hana?” Jayden gasped.

“Jade?” the ninja gasped and gaped at her.

The two eyed each other briefly, but did not get a chance to say anything as the doors to the car practically blew open. The four people inside exited with automatic guns blazing, firing at both young ladies. The pair easily avoided the shots and advanced on the aggressors. Making eye contact, the ladies smirked at each other.  

“You shouldn’t shoot at us,” Hana commented.

“It fucking pisses us off,” Jayden added.

They launched themselves at their foes, making the enemy gasp in shock. They each took on two. Jayden rushed the two at the back, quickly kicking the gun out of one hand while grabbing the other by the wrist and forcing him to point his gun at the ground. She shoved her elbow into the throat of the guy that she held and planted her leg to kick the other again. The kicked one fell back and Jayden rapidly turned her attention to the other while she had the time.

Turning, Jayden used her gloves, slashing upward. She managed to cut through the black mask and glide through some flesh. The guy hissed as he aimed his gun again. And she dodged, grabbing his wrist once more. She applied pressure to his wrist and kneed him several times in the chest, feeling armor of some kind underneath his clothes. Still, he coughed with each hit and dropped the gun. Suddenly, she was jerked away from him and on her back.

“Shit,” she hissed, rolling out of the way to avoid being stomped out by the guy.

Climbing to her feet, she noticed that her wrist was bound with thin cables that came from wrist of the assailant that she kicked. He chuckled, thinking he had her. She growled, cutting through the cables with her free hand. She shot at the guy before he realized she was free. Instead of going for his body, she focused on his head and neck. Just as she was about to drop him with a hit to the throat, she felt cables around her wrist again, tugging her away. Before she was too far, she leaped and kicked the guy in the neck with all of her might. She hooked her foot around the back of his neck and dragged him with her part of the way.

She twisted while being pulled and righted herself by the time her feet were on the ground. Leaping at the guy holding her, she slammed the heel of her hand into his throat. She could hear him gagging briefly before he hit the ground and did not move. Jayden turned to make sure the other guy was down for the count and then heard soft applauds. Hana was clapping with two unconscious guys at her feet.  

“Watching you work is always like poetry,” Hana commented.

“Was this even a challenge for you?” Jayden nodded toward the fallen criminals.

Hana shrugged. “Not really. I’m still, you know, magical.” There was an awkward moment of silence between them. “Um … so, what are you doing here?” Jayden just gave her an “are you kidding look” and caused her to blush. “Um … I mean, this block, not this city that you live in … and have for all you life. What are you doing at this crime scene?” Hana winced.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Jayden countered as sirens drew closer.

“I’m with them,” Hana answered as Justice Bureau cars pulled up.

Jayden scowled. “You’re a recruit with of the Justice Bureau?” Did all the gods of all the worlds just hate her? Her uncle thought the worst of her, her best friend did not want to look at her, and now the woman that broke her heart was working at her mommy’s job with her aunt as a boss. _Balls!_

Sorrow settled in Hana’s eyes, as if she had not expected the hostile tone. Jayden did not understand why, but the look hurt her, but not the way she thought it would. She was hurt that Hana felt pained because of her. 

“Jade, can we talk later? After I’m done with work?” Hana asked with in a quiet tone. She almost sounded like she was pleading, which struck Jayden in the chest.

She truly did not want to agree. She was supposed to be getting over Hana. But, part of her felt like it would never be over Hana. Besides, she had questions. Why had Hana abandoned her when she needed her the most?

“Sure. Where do you want to meet?” Jayden inquired against her better judgment. _Is this what Mom meant by we’d keep finding our way back to each other?_

“I don’t know Go City that well yet. Where do you want to meet?”

Sighing, she scratched her head. “I’ll come get you when you get off. Just be outside of the Justice Bureau building in the front. We’ll go from there.”

Hana nodded and then had to get to work with the senior agents, but made sure to let Jayden know when she got off. Jayden walked off, not sure where she was headed. She was not surprised to end up at her mommy’s office door. She barged in, as she had a bad habit of doing. Shego did not even glance up, knowing only family members had the gall to burst into the room.

“Mommy, I need your help,” Jayden blurted out as she slammed the door shut.

“Doesn’t everybody?” Shego joked as she faced her daughter, who sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “What’s up? You looked panicked.”

“Hana’s here and wants to talk!”

“Okay, mini-monster, how about we start with who Hana is.”

Jayden groaned as she realized she had not given her mothers any details about her summer. She quickly went through things to catch her mommy up. Shego sat then silently, mostly due to shock, of that, Jayden was certain.

“Really, kid? Billions of women on the planet and you fall for your best friend’s aunt?” Shego managed to say.

“You fell for Mom when she was a teenager.”

“Touché. So, what’s the problem? If you need to talk to her, then talk to her.”

Jayden scratched her head. “It can’t be that fucking easy.”

“It could be that fucking easy if you got off your ass and went to speak to the damn chick. Trust me, all this fretting bullshit only leads to more pain and heartache. If you need to say something to her or ask something, you do that shit now while you’ve got the chance.” Emerald eyes stared her down, looked into her, looked beyond her, advising her as if Shego was advising herself.

Jayden blinked, feeling that her Mommy was speaking from deep experience, and so she nodded. “Okay.”

“And, just in case this all goes right, it’s all right for you to date Hana, even though we’re definitely keeping her on the force. I mean, who doesn’t want a magical ninja?” Shego chuckled.

Jayden had a feeling there was a joke in there that she did not get. But, she followed her mother’s advice. She met with Hana in front of the Bureau and they walked off in silence. They remained that way for several blocks and surprisingly, the awkward quiet was broken by the ninja.

“Why did you leave?” Hana finally asked in a whisper.

Jayden blinked. _What the hell kind of question is that? I don’t remember her being this fucking stupid_. “Because you were gone.”

Hana arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Jayden snorted and glared. It took a lot of self-control that most people would not have assumed she had to not stomp her foot. “I mean, I needed you and you weren’t there.”

Hana’s brow wrinkled and she squinted, studying the younger woman. “What? What are you talking about?”

Frowning, Jayden shook her head. “It doesn’t even matter. I don’t know why I thought this would go differently.” She sped up her walk.

“Jade, wait!” Hana chased after her. “I don’t understand why you’re so pissed. You left me!”

Jayden stopped and reeled back, glowering at the taller female. “I left you? Are you fucking nuts? You can’t just fucking rewrite history! I looked for you after your fucking brother confronted me about whatever the hell it was we were doing and you were nowhere to be fucking found!”

“My brother?” It was Hana’s turn to reel.

“Yeah, your brother. He accused me of running through his family, experimenting with you, and hurting Bo. He told me to leave and even had a plane ticket for me. I looked for him and Bo, wanting to explain. When I couldn’t find them, I looked for you and couldn’t find you either. What the fuck was I supposed to do?” the younger girl demanded, glaring daggers at Hana.

Dark eyes blinked several times. “My brother said what? When the hell did that happen? Because if it’s the fucking night he took us for a spiritual retreat in the fucking woods, I’ll kill him!” Hana roared.

A scoff escaped Jayden as she threw up her hands and wandered in a circle for a moment before turning to look Hana in the eye once more. “Oh, that’s fucking convenient!”

“Well, what do you want me to say? You think I fucking abandoned you?” the ninja demanded.

“Didn’t you? Wasn’t I just some goddamn fling and you sent your fucking brother to break up with me?” Jayden countered, tears gathering in her eyes.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck?” Jayden had clearly rubbed off on her. “You seriously don’t believe that?” Hana did not wait for a reply, taking Jayden by the elbow and pulling her off in a direction that might offer them more privacy. They ended up in an alley and Hana did not release her. “You listen to me and you listen good. I didn’t send my brother to do anything. I didn’t – and don’t for that matter – want to break up with you. You weren’t some goddamn fling. I like you. I like you so damn much and I’ve missed you. I’ve been miserable without you. Why the hell do you think I’m here? I wanted to find you and, thankfully, Yori was able to get me a job, but she wouldn’t tell me where to find you.”

“Because of Bo?” Jayden tried to hold in a whimper, but failed.

“She never said, but I guess that explains why he’s not talking to me. I was trying to ask your mom, but it’s impossible to get next to her without her assistant actually trying to kill you. Like literally trying to kill you.”

“He is pretty badass.”

“Bastard almost cut my head off with a hunting knife. I didn’t think it would be cool for me to kill a coworker and your mother wouldn’t see me anyway. The point is, Jade, I still like you and I want us to go somewhere. I definitely don’t want things to end like this. I’ve never felt so accepted by someone like I’ve been with you, or so comfortable with someone. I can be myself with you and I hope you can be yourself with me. I’m not ready to give that up.”

Jayden sighed. She had not expected everything Hana said to not only make so much damned sense, but also touch her and make her realize that she did not want it to end either. She liked Hana, enjoyed being around her, and being near her still made her stomach feel funny. She was not ready to just throw it away since she knew that she would not be moving on any time soon. Throwing herself into Hana’s chest, she embraced the older warrior and buried her face in her neck.

“I’m not ready to give up either. I’ve never felt like this before and I like it. I like you. But, I don’t … I can’t have Bo or Uncle Ron hate me. I fucking can’t,” Jayden cried.

Hana held her tightly and rubbed her back. “We’ll talk to them. They’ll come around, especially Bo. They’re pretty understanding guys.” Or so they both hoped. 

-8-8-8-8-

Mayah and Todd were at a restaurant for dinner. They had been having a conversation, but it died down when the food was brought out. Mayah decided now was a good time to introduce a subject that she knew her boyfriend did not want to hear.

“So, I told Jade about us,” Mayah declared.

Todd tensed and dropped his fork. She almost laughed, but she could understand his reaction. He was probably surprised that she was not dead, or at least maimed and in a hospital somewhere.

He blinked as if trying to restart his brain. “Uh … how did she take it?”

They had not spoken about it, but they both seemed to assume that Jayden would not be happy with their relationship, mostly because she was never happy with his relationships. They expected tantrums and cursing and throwing things and plots to break them up. She was pleased to report that did not happen.

“She’s happy for us, so I think we should tell our parents,” Mayah suggested.

The fork went down again and he choked on air as his eyes went comically wide. “So, they can all kill me? Why are you trying to get me killed? There’s no life insurance of anything.”

She sighed and reached across the table for his hand, covering it with her own. “We’re not going to sneak around forever. I know we haven’t been dating that long, but I feel like things are going well. Do you see that differently?”

Todd shook his head. “No. This is probably … You know what, never mind. You’re absolutely right. I can’t be scared of this when I want us to work and I know damn well that we’re not going to work as a secret. So, we’ll tell them.” He turned his hand to hold hers and he gave her a gentle squeeze.

A small smile settled on her face. “All right. Want to tell your mothers first? They can probably be reasoned with and they’re less likely to kill you.”

“Good plan. I’m guessing you want to do this soon,” he sighed.

She smiled even more. “Tonight if you want.” She knew that his moms would be alone because his crazy sister actually had a date with Hana. _It’s must be a full moon or something_.

He let out a long exhale. “If that’s what you want. We’ll tell your parents right after?”

“Let’s see how it goes with your parents first. I’m not a fan of getting murdered twice on the same night.”

He chuckled, but it was an anxious sound. When he ordered a glass of wine and downed it without taking a breath, she wondered if she had made the right suggestion. She had to stop him from having a second glass. He gazed at her with worried lime-colored eyes.

“Baby, it’ll be fine. You already know what to say to your moms. You like telling the story,” she reminded him.

Nodding, he took a deep breath. He knew exactly what to say to his mothers, but she understood that he was just overwhelmed. Reaching over the table, she grabbed his hand once more and held on tight. He returned the gesture.

“They’ll be happy for us,” she assured him.

All he could do was nod. She held his hand through dinner and had to drive, even though he had only had that one glass of wine. It was just he sported a dazed look, as if he had no clue where he was. She took them right to his mothers’ house and hoped that he did not pass out. Holding his hand tightly, she watched as he took several deep breaths.

“We can leave,” she told him. She honestly did not think he would freak out so much, but she knew this was hard on him. He was undoubtedly going to take all the anger and accusations. She was certain her parents were going to try to kill him. She just hoped his mothers at least understood.

“No, let’s go,” he stated in a strong tone while reaching for the door.

Mayah smiled at him and they made their way to the front door. Todd let them in with his keys. The house was silent, which was expected with no Jayden in the house. Sure, Kim was energetic and moved at a mile-a-minute still, but Shego could calm her down when it was just the two of them.

“Kimmie! She-she!” Todd called.

“We’re upstairs, Smiles!” Kim shouted back.

“And we’ll be right down, so you two can stop acting like you don’t have any home training,” Shego added.

Todd could not help chuckling. Mayah did the same because his She-she reminded her so much of her own mother. She figured if they could convince his She-she that this was a good thing, there was a chance that they could convince her mother.

Todd took another breath and held Mayah’s hand as they sat down on the sofa. She patted his knee and was happy that he was holding her close instead of pushing her away out of fear. He did not let go as his mothers made their way to the living room in their pajamas. They paused when they saw Mayah, clearly confused by her presence.

“Mayah, I thought Jade told you that Hell froze over and she has a date,” Shego remarked as she and Kim eased down onto the love seat.

Mayah chuckled. “Oh, I know. I’ve already packed for the approaching apocalypse.”

“Then, what’s this about?” Kim asked curiously, eyes straying to the linked hands on the couch.

Todd took a massive inhale. “Long story or short story?”

“Short, very short. One word short,” Shego stated sharply, eyes on their hands as well.

“Dating.” He pointed to himself and Mayah.

“I’m sorry it sounded like you said dying because that’s the fucking translation I got from it! What the fuck is wrong with you, Smiles?” Shego shouted, jumping to her feet.

Todd gulped and squeezed her hand to the point of pain, but Mayah did not even wince. “She-she…” he whimpered, sounding very young for a moment.

“What the fuck, Smiley? Are you out of your little prehistoric mind? She’s a teenager! Not even fucking old enough to drink! Oh, my god!” Shego screamed, throwing her hands up.

Todd opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned his attention to Kim. He gave her a look, which Mayah could not figure out. It was not a pleading look, just a simple glance that they held for no longer than a second. And then, Kim gave him a small smile and nod. _Do they have telepathy or something?_

“Shego, sweetheart,” Kim practically cooed and eased her hand into Shego’s. She gave gentle tug. “Come with me for a second, sweetheart.”

Shego only managed to yelp as Kim pulled her into the kitchen. They could hear some speaking, but not what they were saying. Todd released a low breath. Mayah patted his knee once again.

“What was that with Aunt Kim?” Mayah asked curiously.

Todd smiled. “Because she knows and gets it. She gets it. She’ll help She-she calm down and let me explain.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain what that was. It’s like she read your mind or something.”

He shrugged. “It’s just this thing with me and Pop.”

Mayah nodded and smiled a bit because she thought it was cute when he referred to Kim as “Pop.” After a couple of minutes, the parents returned with Kim’s arms around one of Shego’s limb. Shego definitely appeared calmer. Kim actually smiled at them as they settled back in their seats.

“So, you were saying?” Kim asked.

Todd cleared his throat. “Uh … yeah, so we’re dating. It only just started about six weeks ago. Before that we ended up friends after she and Jade helped me move in. I know this is weird because of, well, our lives and stuff, but she and I … we make sense. She … she focuses me,” he explained. It was not his usual story, but it was nice to hear.

“She focuses you?” Shego sounded so skeptical. It was hard to believe that any of the offspring brought anything but chaos. “You used to hop the backyard fence to get away from her. You’d be gone for hours. One time, you faked throwing up in the bathroom for the entire day because she wouldn’t move from the bathroom door.”

“Wow, you weren’t really sick that time?” Mayah asked incredulously.

“You’d be surprised by some of the things this guy did to get away from you,” Shego stated and Todd gave her a pleading look, as if begging her to stop giving away all of his secrets. Shego waved the look off. “So, you can imagine my surprise here when he shows up saying he’s dating you and you focus him. Kinda hard to believe.”

Todd let out a loud, long frustrated breath. “To make it easier she’s the She-she to my Kimmie. She’s the person that makes sure I eat, to the point where she’s started cooking for me, so I’m not always eating pizza. If she’s not around when I should be eating, she’ll call. She makes sure my place isn’t covered in books. She also scolds me whenever I forget stuff. You should see the look she gives me when I start dumping stuff in _my_ living room.”

“Wow, she is you,” Kim commented, caressing her wife’s hand with her thumb.

Shego rolled her eyes, but sighed. “Of course this shit makes sense when he’s your six foot clone. Okay, I just need to know two things.”

“This seriously just happened this summer and no. Totally no and not anytime soon,” Todd said, clearly knowing his mother’s questions. Mayah could guess what they were.

This time Shego exhaled. This went way better than expected, but Mayah really had not expected Kim to be on their side. In fact, Kim smiled at them, as if she were happy for them.

“Smiles, it’s good that you have someone that understands you,” Kim said.

“She really does,” Todd assured her with a grin. “I never realized how lonely I actually felt with my other girlfriends, but I don’t feel like that with her. I don’t feel like a weirdo with her.” His words only made Kim smile more, as if she completely got it. Shego even smiled a little. 

-8-8-8-8-

“I did not see that coming,” Shego sighed once she and Kim were alone again. The pale woman was lying on the sofa with Kim massaging her shoulders.

“Me neither, but it makes sense now that he’s explained it. And, I can’t believe you were actually going to bring up the age thing. I mean, really? Why not call yourself a pervert while you’re at it? At least she’s not his pet,” Kim laughed.

Shego groaned and rubbed her face with one hand. “Please, just stop. You do realize Bets is going to shoot him in the face and then I’m going to have to go tear her goddamn throat out. Oh, and just to warn you, you’ll probably have to kill Ron while I’m burying Bets’ body.”

Kim paused and gazed at her wife with an arched eyebrow. “And why am I killing Ron?”

“Oh, right, the little monster wanted me to catch you up, but I got distracted.” Shego took that moment to fill Kim in about what their darling daughter had up to over the summer and what could possibly happen now that Jayden was dating.

By the end of it, Kim’s face was on the floor. “I’m gonna have to kill Ron.”

“Uh, yeah. Both us now have to kill our best friends. Thank you, kids.”

Kim chuckled and continued massaging Shego’s shoulders. She placed a gentle kiss to the back of Shego’s neck. Shego turned over, grabbing Kim on the way. She pulled her smaller spouse down on to her.

“How the hell do we have one kid attracted to younger women and the other attracted to older women?” Shego wondered aloud, absently caressing Kim’s back.

“I dunno. Nurturing probably. After all, look at us.”

“Joke all you want, but you know Betty is going to kill Booger. She is going to assume the worst and she’s going to murder him.”

“Smiles has to stand up for himself and for his relationship. We know that can be overwhelming, but if it’s worth it to him, he’ll stand his ground. We can only offer moral support.”

“And kill Betty after she slays him because she’s going to.”

Kim did not argue that as she considered they might have to do that. She knew Betty would not take things as well as they did, especially since she did not have the same relationship experience as Kim and Shego. She would not understand anything that the couple said. She would only see a twenty-five-year-old _man_ taking advantage of her eighteen-year-old daughter. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Mommy!” Mayah cried as a sickening crunch echoed through the living room and Todd fell back, blood pouring out his nose.

“You fucking pervert! What have you been doing to my daughter?” Betty Director screamed, pulling away as her husband tried to hold her back. Mayah fell to Todd’s side.

“Mommy, nothing’s happened! We’ve just been dating,” Mayah declared. “And it’s only been a few weeks.”

“Oh, please! He took you to the prom, mee-mee! What the hell am I supposed to believe? You’ve been pining after him your whole life! My god! What have you been doing to her?” Betty snarled, getting away from her husband. She practically dived on Todd, pounding on his chest as they went down.

Todd coughed and Mayah screamed. She was frozen in place, scared to touch her mother. She feared that would only make matters worse. Her mother might assume he brainwashed her or she turned against the woman that she most admired and that might only make her mother all the more furious.

“Daddy, do something!” Mayah begged, but he did not move. She realized that he probably wanted to do the same thing as her mother.

“Miss Betty, please!” Todd actually roared, taking control of Betty’s hands. He held onto her while staring at her with eyes that did not match his suddenly booming voice. “I am not like that! I would never, ever hurt her! You know me. You’ve known me since I was a boy. How could you…?” He could not get the question out as he started to sob. He just cried, held her wrists and cried.

“Smiles,” Mayah whispered, falling to his side. He managed roll to his side, letting go of Betty. He then rolled over to Mayah and wept in her arms. Mayah did not want to do beyond hold him and quietly promise him that everything would be all right. “I’ll drive you home, Smiles,” she offered in a low tone.

“Mayah,” Betty said, maybe as a warning or as a plea. The look in her eye said warning, but the tone did not quite match.

“I’ll be back later,” Mayah stated, helping lift Todd up. She then led Todd out of the house, still sobbing. She never realized until now how much her mother meant to him. But, Betty was his family, too, and he did not want to lose her. 

-8-8-8-8-

Mayah was not surprised that her parents were waiting for her, even though hours had passed since she left the house. They were sitting in the living room, talking softly with each other. They stopped speaking when she stepped into the room. She sat down across from them with a stern gaze. She had never felt so detached from her parents before. Looking at them, all she could feel was anger and pain. Seeing disappointment in their eyes instead of remorse did not help matters. _How dare they fucking judge me and Smiles?_

“Congrats, Mommy. Not only did you make him cry and accuse him of being a child molester, but you also broke his nose. I hope you feel good about yourself. The only reason I came back is because he doesn’t want you to think any more poorly of him, not that your opinion could get any lower. I only want to know if there’s anything I can say to at least make you understand that he hasn’t touched me, not when I was little or now. We’ve only been dating a few weeks and he’s been the perfect gentleman,” Mayah hissed.

Dahntay scoffed. “A gentleman dating an eighteen year old?”

“We’re the same age his mothers were when they got together. But, that doesn’t even matter,” Mayah stated.

“Oh, because I’m sure his mothers approve.” Betty rolled her eye.

“You don’t even care, do you? You don’t care how happy I am with him or how you just shattered his psyche. God, do you even get that you’re one of his heroes? He loves and respects you and you accused him of molesting me. I don’t know what to do.” Mayah shook her head and stood up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” her mother demanded with a glare.

“To bed. Unless, of course, I’m being kicked out.” She would not put that past them right now.

“Mee-mee,” Betty started, but it did not sound like she was about to throw her daughter out, so Mayah walked off. She made sure to slam her door, if only to disturb them. In the morning, she left before they woke up, not wanting to face her parents. She was not sure if she would ever get over how furious she was with them. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim watched as Jayden practically glided around the house, killing time before leaving for her date with Hana. Shego, on the other hand, was so tense that Kim feared the pale woman would shatter if she touched her. She knew that Shego was fighting inner demons after Todd showed up a couple of days ago looking like he had been hit by a truck. Shego probably would have killed Betty that day if Todd did not require immediate TLC. He stayed at the house for a few hours, but Mayah had stepped up to take care of him after that. That action alone earned her Shego’s respect to be his girlfriend.

Thankfully, Jayden was in the dark about things with her brother and best friend because she had been out with Hana all day. If Jayden had been aware, Kim could imagine her wife and daughter storming the Director-Jones household, like maniacs on the warpath. Of course, she was not sure if her spouse still was not considering such a thing.

“Love looks good on Jade,” Kim commented, trying to pull her love out of her funk. Shego merely grunted.

The redhead shook her head and she really wished that Shego could enjoy how happy their daughter was, if only for a moment. Jayden bounced up to them. She hugged both, but only Kim returned the embrace. Jayden was too focused on meeting with Hana to notice her mommy’s mood. As soon as she was out of the door, Kim sat down next to her spouse, embracing her. This seemed to be the “on” button for her spouse.

“How dare that fucking bitch,” Shego growled, referring to Betty.

“Sweetheart,” Kim started, but for once did not know what to say to make her love feel better. Of course, she was not happy with the way Betty had treated their son, but she knew dwelling on all of the possible ways to punish her was not a good way to handle the situation. Unfortunately, she could not offer Shego a better alternative. It did not help, every few seconds, she felt the urge to murder Betty herself. It was not their fight, though. This was Todd and Mayah’s battle and she felt confident that the couple would prevail, after they reorganized.

“I’ll rip out her fucking good eye. How dare she accuse him of … and hitting him? She fucking knew he wouldn’t fight back!” Shego snarled, sounding more and more like a disgruntled animal.

Kim held her tighter. “I know, love. I know.” She kissed Shego’s temple. 

The small press of affection did not seem to get through to Shego, who continued to seethe. Kim was not sure what she should do next. A knock at the door interrupted them. Kim arched an eyebrow, wondering who it was. She went to the door and opened it. Ron burst in, hands up in outrage already.

“What the hell is wrong with your damn kid? Keep her away from my damn sister! I won’t let her play Hana,” Ron thundered.

Kim fell back, but Shego was up in a flash. She snarled, grabbing him by the collar. She shoved him up against the door, closing it and causing the wall to shake.

“You don’t fucking judge my goddamn kid! She’s fucking happy and she likes Hana, who fucking likes her back and who is also happy! What the fuck does any of this have to do with you? Huh?” Shego hollered in his face, scowling the whole time. She put a clawed finger in his face.

For a moment, wide, shocked brown eyes stared at Shego. Ron clearly did not expect Shego to react the way that she did. Of course, he had no way of knowing that she was wound tighter than a stripped screw. But, he quickly recovered.

“I’m not going to let my sister have her heartbroken like my damn son! She’s not going to fucking experiment on my whole goddamn family!” he retorted.

“She’s not experimenting! She was confused with Bo and she was trying to figure it out, but she likes Hana. She knows how she feels about Hana and Hana knows how she feels. Have you even spoken to your goddamn sister about this?” she demanded.

Ron opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His eyes fell to the floor. Shego released him, shoving his up against the door once more just for good measure. Kim stepped to her side and reached out to rub her friend’s arm, but only for a moment. Shego frowned at the sight, but Kim ignored that.

“Ron, we know you’re upset that Bo got hurt in this, but Jade can’t change her feelings any more than I could. He’ll get over it, like you did. He’ll meet the person perfect for him like you did and they’ll go right back to being best friends,” Kim told him.

“It’s a part of growing up and you have to let them work through it,” Shego stated.

“You can’t change what happened, not between us or them. And you know what happened between us was for the best. What happened between them as well. You wouldn’t want Jade staying with Bo out of obligation. She loves him, but like a brother. I’m fairly certain his feelings lean more toward sister as well and he just needs time to get there.”

They watched his shoulders slump as their words sunk in. He knew they were right. Shego put an arm around Kim, who she could feel was panting, but trying to control it. Kim did not like fighting with her friends.

“My little guy really likes her so much,” he whispered in desperation.

“She loves him, but she likes Hana. Bo is going to move on,” Kim insisted.

He nodded and left the house without another word. Really, there was nothing else to say. The couple could barely take a breath before there was another knock at the door, interrupting their day. Sighing, Shego opened the door and snarled.

“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve showing your face around here!” Shego raised her fist, but her wife managed to hold her back.

Betty appeared exhausted and did not even move, as if she planned to just take Shego’s punch. Her face was drawn and there was lines marring her eye. There was a dark circle around her eye, which was also puffy.

“I’m here to apologize,” Betty proclaimed, holding her hand up. “I’m not proud of my behavior or treatment of your son, especially what happened a few days ago.”

“You should tell him,” Kim pointed out.

“He and Mayah are understandably not speaking to me. I want to at least clear the air between us. I’ve spent the last few days lost in photos of the past, staring at the little boy I hurt, both physically and emotionally. He’s such a sweet, sensitive kid and he’s become a wonderful young man. Really, I should be happy that Mayah is with him.”

Shego glared at her. “Hell fucking yeah.”

“I want to tell them.”

“Then you have to wait until they want to talk to you. Talking with us isn’t going to solve your problem,” Kim pointed out.

“Well, I’m also hoping it’ll get Shego to come back to work,” Betty said.

Shego snorted. “I’ve got days. You’re lucky I haven’t melted your fucking face off and played kickball with your goddamn skull.”

Betty actually nodded. “I suppose that’s true.”

“I’m not going to come back, not yet.”

Betty nodded, knowing what she needed to do. Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair and turned without saying anything further. She just left, dragging herself out of the door as if it were the hardest thing she had ever done. It was clear that she was haunted by what happened to her, but they could not bring themselves to care. She brought it on herself and she had harmed their precious son in the process. Shego sighed as she shut the door. The couple collapsed on the sofa and cuddled against each other.

“What fucking time is it?” Shego wondered, rubbing her eyes.

“Ten thirty,” Kim answered while cuddling close to her wife’s warm form. She wished that she could just burrow inside of Shego and hide from everything until Jayden returned. At least Jayden would come with good news and glowing over her time with Hana.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m ready to go back to bed. Too much excitement for it to not even be noon yet. I really could have done without being reminded once upon a time you dated Ron. What the hell were you thinking?”

Kim waved her off. “It was only a few months and we were thinking the same stupid thing our kids were. Hormones make emotions confusing. But, we figured out we didn’t feel that way about each other. Bo will figure it out, too.”

Shego stared at her. “How do you know?”

“Because they might as well be siblings, the four of them. It was like that with me and Ron, like you and Betty.”

Shego chuckled and did not dispute that. It was because Betty was practically her sister that they were going to get over this, as long as Betty made up with the kids. Shego held onto Kim a little tighter.

“When do our kids stop making life so goddamn interesting?” Shego wondered.

“I dunno. My mom and dad continue to swear me and the tweebs are the ones that made them go gray,” Kim remarked and then ran her hands through her lover’s inky mane. She played with the ring of white in Shego’s hair. “I guess you’ll suffer the same fate.”

“A lifetime with you and our nutty kids? I’ll take it,” Shego declared and kissed Kim. The redhead smiled; she would take it, too. She went in for a more heated kiss. After all, who knew how long they would have the house to themselves before their kids or more drama showed up? 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: an epilogue (very short).

A/N: in the “Walking the Line” series (I don’t know which story), I mentioned that Kim had two boyfriends in her life, one Josh and another unnamed. I decided to let Ron be the second one because of the show and also because a reader, Lycan13, guessed it in one of many reviews. So, there ya go; Kim and Ron once dated.


	5. Expression Five: Smell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these Disney characters; they’re owned by Disney, obviously. I do, however, own Jayden, Todd, Mayah, Raziya, and Bokuden.

Expression Five: Smell 

The knock at the door was not a surprise and somehow the person at the door was not a surprise either. Sighing, Mayah wished that she had just stayed in the kitchen, cooking dinner. For the moment, she just stared out of the peephole and then pressed her forehead to the door. Todd came up behind her, placing gentle hands on her shoulders. He nuzzled her neck briefly and placed a gentle kiss right behind her ear.

“Who is it?” he asked in a low tone, not wanting to alert the person on the other side of the door that someone was home. It was a smart move since she was considering that they just play like they were not there.

“Mommy.”

“You gonna let her in?” He rubbed his nose in her neck, knowing it would draw a light laugh from her. She snorted to prevent the laugh from escaping and took a deep breath to compose herself.

Staring at the door, she arched an eyebrow. “Should I?”

“You trying to avoid her the rest of your life?” he countered.

“No,” she sighed.

“Well, that answers that.”

She sighed again. “I kinda hate that you’re so goddamn nice.”

He only laughed and stepped away. She wanted to remind him that her mother was the reason why he looked like he just lost a prizefight, but he would not care anyway. She knew that he wanted her to keep her relationship with her mother because that was how he was. She shook her head and opened the door. She locked eyes with her mother and noted for the first time in her life, her mother seemed small. Her dark gaze faltered and she eyed the floor briefly.

“You can come in,” Todd offered, making a sweeping gesture with his hand.

“Thank you,” Betty said in a soft tone, lifting her head to address him.

She gasped as she caught sight of her handiwork. Beyond the bruised and bandaged nose, Todd had a black eye, bruised cheek, and a couple of stitches in his lip. She reached out, as if she were going to touch his face, but dropped her hand as soon as she realized that she was doing that. _Good_ , Mayah thought. _She doesn’t have the right to touch him_.

“I’m so sorry, Smiley,” Betty said in a haunted whisper. She turned pale, almost like she was about to be sick.

“Sorry for what? My face? My feelings? The implied insult that my mothers aren’t good parents?” he inquired, crossing his arms over his chest. Of course, this action just made him look bigger than he was and he really did not need to appear any larger as he towered over Betty, who seemed to wither under his intense gaze. Mayah was pleased that her boyfriend had not planned to just let her mother off of the hook.

“All of the above. I was wrong. So very wrong. It’s just that…” she trailed off, shaking her head and running a hand through her short, chocolate hair that was sprinkled with grey.

“That I’m so much older than Mayah and suck so much as a human being that the only real way for her to have any affection for me is if I’ve been abusing her since birth?” he hammered away.

Something there brought life back into Betty’s gaze and she locked eyes with him. “You don’t suck, Smiles. You’re a great young man. You’re a doctor at twenty-five for fuck’s sake. You’ve saved the fucking world before. And despite having an unconventional childhood, you’ve managed to make a pretty normal and responsible adult. Kim and Shego should be proud of the amazing job they did with you.”

Both young people were dumbstruck. They had expected a fight. They were not sure what to do with agreement and high praise. They needed to regroup.

“Do you want something to drink?” Mayah offered, planning to retreat to the kitchen and try to process what just happened.

“No, thank you. I want to start over with you two. Can you tell me how this—” Betty motioned between the couple. “How did it start? What happened? I mean, Smiley, you used to hop fences to get away from Mayah.”

Todd smiled a bit, but could not do any more than that without paining himself. Mayah wiped the smile away with a hard look. She did not want him to be soft on her mother considering what Betty had done and she also did not want to chance him tearing his stitches. They went to the couch with Betty following. They then shared the story of how they got to where they were. Betty was actually quiet throughout the tale, only nodding in some places.

“I hate that I agree with your mother and you two do make sense,” Betty finally commented.

“Hey, my pop is right more often than not,” Todd defended Kimmie.

“As annoying as she is, you’re right. It’s actually one of the things that make her annoying. She’s definitely right about you two. Mayah, as I once told Shego, you could do worse,” Betty remarked.

They had a feeling that was the closest thing they would get to approval, especially if that was all Shego got. Odd, but it was enough. As long as Betty and Dahntay accepted them, it was enough. Maybe, one day, they would look back on all of this and it will seem like one big comedy. Of course, that day was a long way off. 

-8-8-8-8-

“You are too silly for not realizing I had an apartment,” Hana chuckled as she and Jayden stood in her small kitchen making sandwiches.

“Excuse me for knowing only one person in their twenties, who only just moved out of the house at twenty-five,” Jayden replied with a smile. She had assumed that was the norm until Hana mentioned her own apartment. Once that came up, Jayden wanted to see where her girlfriend lived and now they were there, making lunch together and probably enjoying it more than would be considered sane.

Hana chuckled again and bumped Jayden with her hip. This earned another smile from Jayden. Hana sliced both sandwiches in half and then leaned down to kiss Jayden for no other reason than she was there. This got a giggle out of Jayden and she slapped her hand over her mouth.

“You are so adorable,” Hana commented as a blush colored her girlfriend’s cheeks.

“You’re the only person that can say that. Anybody else gets their fucking ass beat and told off,” Jayden replied.

“I expect as much. Grab the drinks. I’ve got the sandwiches.”

Jayden nodded, taking control of their glasses as well as a plate of potato chips. They sat on the sofa, which was cozy because it was small. They could not help touching. Hana’s apartment reminded her of some the college dorms that she had hung out in. It was larger obviously, but not by much and the décor was simple. It was comfortable, though, and she liked it.

“I liked making sandwiches with you,” Hana said as they set themselves up, putting their food on trays that were in front of the couch. She had learned it was best to tell Jayden things that she enjoyed with her to make it clear that she liked Jayden.

“It was fun,” Jayden grinned. “We’re going to do it again, right?”

“Of course. I mean, you’re going to be over a lot more now, right?”

“Hell, fucking yeah!” Jayden grinned even wider.

Hana smiled a bit and then they turned their attention to their food. Before they took a bite, there was a knock at the door. They glanced at each other and shrugged. Hana sighed and put her food down to go answer the door. She rolled her eyes as she let her brother in.

“Hello, Ron,” Hana said dryly.

“Hey, can we—” Ron cut himself short when he noticed she was not alone.

“Talk? I dunno. Are you going to make my girlfriend feel bad about herself again and then take everyone that she might want to talk to for a ‘spiritual retreat’ in the woods? I don’t know where you might provide her with a plane ticket to this time, though,” she remarked.

Ron blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “She told you about that?”

Folding her arms across her chest, Hana nodded.  “Yeah. Imagine that, I talk to my girlfriend. Crazy, right?”

“Can you be a little less sarcastic?”  

“Not really, unless you’re going to be less of a douche, which I can’t see. You tried to ruin my relationship with someone I really like and who really likes me under the guise of helping me. Or helping Bo or whoever the hell you thought you were helping.”

“Jade, could you give us a minute?” Ron requested.

Hana quickly replied, “No, she can’t. I’m spending time with her and I’m having lunch with her. I don’t want to deal with you or your opinion right now. I just went to relax with her, especially since you won’t even own up to what you did and you don’t even want to talk about it like a civilized person.”

“And what about what you did?” he countered, glaring at her.

“Excuse the hell out of me for liking Bo’s best friend, but that’s between us and him. It’s none of your business. It wasn’t your place to talk to Jade, especially not the way you did. You hurt her and I don’t want to be bothered with you if you’re going to do that again. You didn’t have any right to say anything to her,” Hana stated, moving over to Jayden. Jayden stood by her and they held hands, waiting to see how he reacted.

Ron was quiet for a long moment and just stared at their joined hands. Suddenly, he sighed and his shoulders slumped. “You’re right. It wasn’t my place. Jade, I’m sorry.

Jayden opened her mouth, but nothing really came out beyond, “Uh…”

“You don’t have to accept. Just hear him out,” Hana said, patting Jayden’s hand to be supportive. Jayden nodded because she did not want to accept the apology just yet, but she really could not stay upset with her uncle, no matter how much he had hurt her at the time.

“She’s right, Jade. You don’t have to accept, but I need to get it out. You just let it sit in your brain and you can come talk to me whenever you want. For now, I just want you to know I just lost sight of what was going on. Besides, Bo is my son. I don’t like seeing him hurt, but, Hana, I don’t like you being pissed with me. I want you to be happy.”

“I _am_ happy,” Hana proclaimed and she let go of Jayden’s hand to put her arm around Jayden’s waist. Jayden let out a light, squeak of a noise that everyone thankfully ignored. She returned the gesture, putting her arms around Hana’s waist.

A sorrowful smile settled on the blond’s face. “Jade, you too?”

“Definitely,” Jayden grinned and she gave her girlfriend a squeeze. It was Hana’s turn to make a noise and then she laughed, not expecting Jayden to hold her so tightly.

He gave them a slow nod. “That’s good. Again, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have meddled in this.”

“No, you shouldn’t have and you shouldn’t have made Jade feel so bad about liking me. We’ll work this out with Bo,” Hana promised.

“I know you will and you’re right. I shouldn’t have done anything. Like I said, I lost sight of things. This wasn’t my place to get involved. I hope you guys are happy and, please, do talk to Bo. He’d like that,” Ron said.

“We know,” Jayden stated.

Ron gave them another nod and turned, leaving with a weak wave goodbye. The couple returned to the couch and kept their arm around each other. Hana moved her embrace around Jayden’s shoulders. Jayden embraced her around her waist and Hana curled into the smaller warrior, resting her cheek in Jayden’s soft, inky mane.

“Let’s watch some movies,” Hana declared.

Jayden nodded and they carried out their afternoon as planned. They cleaned together when they finished lunch, fell back on the sofa, and watched more movies. Eventually, they ended up lying down with Jayden on top of Hana, tucking her head just under Hana’s chin, and Hana played with the ends of Jayden’s thick mane. They were still watching movies, but their attention was not focused there.    

Hana’s hands wandered, caressing Jayden’s back and sides. Jayden’s hands were not idle, drawing circles and long lines on Hana’s sides and abdomen. Kisses followed and the television was forgotten. Things heated up as Hana’s kisses grew bolder and Jayden followed her lead. A moan escaped Jayden’s lips as Hana’s tongue caressed her own. The noise surprised Jayden to the point where she pulled away.  

“We should talk to Bo,” she blurted out. _Way to kill the fucking mood!_

Black eyes blinked in shock. “Whoa, talk abut passion whiplash. Could we talk about this later? I got this other thing I wanna do now,” she joked, fingers drumming against the small of Jayden’s back.

“Uh … But, we should.”

Hana smiled. “We will, and you don’t have to be nervous. This only has to go as far as you’re comfortable. I’m not going to push you. I just want to be around you.”

A smile crawled onto Jayden’s face as she tucked her head under Hana’s chin once more. “That’s good. I don’t mind this stuff, but I’m not ready for more.”

“This is fine for me as well. We can go slowly. If you want, we can stop right now, hit an arcade.”

Jayden considered it. “Maybe later.” Pushing herself up, she planted a fresh kiss to Hana’s waiting lips. Kissing she could handle. Plus, kissing Hana was fucking awesome. 

-8-8-8-8-

Bo agreed to speak to Jayden and Hana when he had sorted through all of his emotions. They were surprised that it took almost a month. Jayden considered that he might just be angry with them, but he dispelled that almost immediately.

“Sorry it took me so long, but I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t cry when I saw you two together,” he stated, sitting down in a café with them.

“Bo, I’m sorry,” Jayden immediately apologized. She reached out and took his hand. She was happy that he did not pull back.

He held up his free hand. “You don’t need to apologize, Jade. I’m glad you’re happy. I know you can’t change your feelings. It just took me a while to accept it. I want you both to be happy.”

“I want you to be happy, too,” she insisted.

He actually smiled. “Then, I need my friends back. Being in a funk sucks, especially alone.”

They laughed. Bo was all right in more ways than one. He had just needed time to sort through everything, especially his emotions. They ordered pizza to celebrate his recovery and their relationship.

When word got around that everything was on the mend for everyone, Shego allowed Kim to talk her into a barbeque, despite the fact that it was too cold now. Of course, Shego could not feel the chill, so she worked the grill outside while all of their friends hung out in the house.

Jayden had to give Hana a tour and was pleased when Hana raved about the reptile room. It was her favorite room in the house. After that, they split up to mingle. Jayden moved over to her usual crew, arguing over some device that Raziya was holding. Hana ended up face to face with Kim and Shego. Understandingly, she gulped and said a silent prayer.

“Hi, Jayden’s moms,” Hana said, even though she was very familiar with Kim. She just knew they were standing before her now as her girlfriend’s parents, not her friend Kim or her boss Shego.

“Hana, I’m just here to make sure Shego doesn’t go overboard,” Kim assured her with a smile.

“You’re lucky Kim and Yori already vouched for you. You treat our mini-monster right or I’ll make sure you get the shittiest assignments in the Bureau while randomly kicking your ass while you continue to work for us,” Shego growled.

Hana nodded. “Totally understand. I plan to treat her perfectly.”

“You’d better.” Shego jabbed her in the chest with her finger and then returned to the grill.  

Kim smiled. “She means well, but she’s also very serious.”

“And intense.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen intense from her.”

Hana gulped as Kim walked away. The ninja was tempted to fall to Jayden’s side, but saw her girlfriend was in a heated debate with Raziya. She was learning to not come between the two scientists and she was also beginning to suspect there was something between the pair, not romantic, but something that she could not put her finger on. It did not bother her, but helped her understand that there were times when she needed to just leave Jayden to her own devices. She decided to try to find someone that she could talk to.

Also watching Jayden and Raziya were Mayah and her brother, Aztek. She patted him on the back, trying to get him to move. He remained firmly planned in place.

“Dude, just talk to her like a regular person. Don’t show her your spit, or your chewed food, and damn sure don’t ask her if your feet smell while sticking them in her face,” Mayah commanded.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” he balked. It was not like he knew any other ways to open a conversation.

She slapped him in the back of the head. “Act fucking not disgusting for the first time in your life.” He pouted and she just slapped again. “Stop. Now, I’ll get Jade away from her and you just be fucking normal.”

She did not stick around from him to nod. It was easy to get Jayden away, telling her to show the younger lot her new reptiles. Jayden jumped at the chance, especially when Chyna asked about her snakes. Aztek took a deep breath and made his way to Raziya.

Kim watched the gathering, seeing everyone get along. She eased out of the house and pressed herself against Shego. Shego wrapped one hand around Kim’s waist, pulling her close.

“I think things will be all right now,” Kim commented.

“All right? Our kids have girlfriends. This is just the beginning of the madness,” Shego remarked with a happy smile.

Kim smiled, too. “Well, as always, it’s something to look forward to. Besides, it’ll be funny, too. Think about how much your mom is going to tease them.” That got a merry guffaw out of Shego. That was something to look forward to, like watching their kids grow up, mature, and make decisions that they felt were best for them.   

-8-8-8-8-

The end.

 

The usual for a story at the end of this series: [here's different fanart for this series](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077705/Walking-the-Line-art). Hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading the story. I hope you enjoyed it. I don’t know if we’ll see more of these characters or this universe, but I hold out hope that one day something else will come to me about these guys. For right now, I’m going to retreat back into my padded cell. Take care everybody!
> 
> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).


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